This had always been a great wish of the Baroness's, but now that the
realisation of it was within her power, she changed her mind. She did
not want her in the least now. Her husband pressed her for reasons,
but she could not give him any. It roused his curiosity and finally
she confessed that she was afraid of her cousin; afraid that she might
win his heart, that he might fall in love with her.
"She must be a queer girl, we really must have her here!"
The Baroness wept and warned, but the Baron laughed and the cousin
arrived.
One afternoon the Baron came home, tired as usual; he had forgotten
all about the cousin and his curiosity in regard to her. They sat down
to dinner. The Baron asked the cousin if she was fond of the theatre.
She replied that she was not. She preferred reality to make-believe.
At home she had founded a school for black sheep and a society for the
care of discharged prisoners. Indeed! The Baron was much interested in
the administration of prisons. The cousin was able to give him a good
deal of information, and during the rest of the dinner the conversation
was exclusively about prisons. Eventually the cousin promised to treat
the whole question in a paper which the Baron was going to read and work
up.
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