Some impish deity seemed to guide her wayward
footsteps.
Had she been a person of low extraction there would have been no
difficulty in dealing with her. But she was so obviously a lady--she had
such obviously rich and influential connections in England! These
people, however glad to have her out of the way, might object if
violent measures were taken by persons who, after all, had no right to
interfere in her affairs. And the situation was rendered none the less
complex by the attitude of Miss Wilberforce herself. She was a Tartar.
She felt that all men's hands were against her. She used her tongue to
good purpose and, at a pinch, her teeth and claws. The policemen of
Nepenthe could bear witness to that fact. Drunk, she had a perfectly
blistering flow of invective at command. Sober, she was apt to indulge
in a dignified bestiality of logic that cut like a knife. It was only
in the intermediate stage that she was affable and human. But to catch
her in that intermediate stage was extremely difficult.
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