CHAPTER XXXVI.
"Rien ne pèse tant qu'un secret,
Le porter loin est difficile aux dames:
Et je sçais mesme sur ce fait
Bon nombre d'hommes qui sont femmes."
—La Fontaine.
Meanwhile Deronda had been fastened and led off by Mr Vandernoodt, who wished for a brisker walk, a cigar, and a little gossip. Since we cannot tell a man his own secrets, the restraint of being in his company often breeds a desire to pair off in conversation with some more ignorant person, and Mr Vandernoodt presently said—
"What a washed-out piece of cambric Grandcourt is! But if he is a favourite of yours, I withdraw the remark."
"Not the least in the world," said Deronda.
"I thought not. One wonders how he came to have a great passion again; and he must have had—to marry in this way. Though Lush, his old chum, hints that he married this girl out of
