The first thing he said was about you; he asked ever so many
questions. Marian didn't want me to speak to you; she didn't want
you to know that they receive him. I told him I was sure that after
all these years you couldn't have any feeling about that; you
couldn't grudge him the hospitality of his own cousin's house. I
said you would be bitter indeed if you did that. Marian has the most
extraordinary ideas about what happened between you; she seems to
think he behaved in some very unusual manner. I took the liberty of
reminding her of the real facts, and placing the story in its true
light. HE has no bitterness, Catherine, I can assure you; and he
might be excused for it, for things have not gone well with him. He
has been all over the world, and tried to establish himself
everywhere; but his evil star was against him. It is most
interesting to hear him talk of his evil star. Everything failed;
everything but his--you know, you remember--his proud, high spirit.
I believe he married some lady somewhere in Europe. You know they
marry in such a peculiar matter-of-course way in Europe; a marriage
of reason they call it. She died soon afterwards; as he said to me,
she only flitted across his life. He has not been in New York for
ten years; he came back a few days ago. The first thing he did was
to ask me about you. He had heard you had never married; he seemed
very much interested about that.
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