But it is her
hatred of me that must bring us to battle unless--"
"Unless what?"
"You give her up now, once and for all."
"Give Cuckoo up!"
The words came slowly, and the voice that uttered them sounded startled
and even shocked. Valentine began to gauge the new power of the lady of
the feathers from that moment.
"That's a--a strong thing to do, Val."
"It won't hurt you to do a strong thing for once in your life."
"Even if it didn't hurt me I think it would hurt her very much. For,
Valentine, I believe you said the truth when you said to me once, 'That
girl loves you.' Do you remember?"
"Perfectly. Loves you, your birth, your position, your money, your good
looks, perhaps your standpoint above the gutter. I can well believe that
Miss Bright, like all her sisterhood, loves with undying love that
combination of flesh-pots, her notion of the ego of a man."
"She has never accepted a halfpenny from me."
"Because she means eventually to have twenty-one shillings in the pound.
Have some more champagne."
"Yes. You are wrong, Val, utterly wrong. Cuckoo's not mercenary. If such
a girl could be good, she is good."
There was just a touch of the maudlin in Julian's voice. He went on very
earnestly, and nodding his head emphatically over even his conjunctions.
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