"No!" said Tony in the Riseholme manner.
"They won't want me then," said Tony. "And yet she asked me to come at half-past five."
"Nonsense, my dear. They will want you, both of them...Oh Tony, don't you see? It's a stunt."
Tony assumed the rapt expression of Luciaphils receiving intelligence.
"Tell me all about it," he said.
"I'm sure I'm right," said she. "Her poppet came in just now, and she held his hand as women do, and made him draw his chair up to her, and said he had scolded her. I'm not sure that he knows yet. But I saw that he guessed something was up. I wonder if he's clever enough to do it properly...I wish she had chosen you, Tony, you'd have done it perfectly. They have got - don't you see - to have the appearance of being lovers, everyone must think they are lovers, while all the time there's nothing at all of any sort in it. It's a stunt; it's a play; it's a glory."
"But perhaps there is something in it," said Tony. "I really think I had better not go in."
"Tony trust me. Lucia has no more idea of keeping a real lover than of keeping a chimpanzee."/>

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" News!," she said. "Lucia's going to have a lover."
"No!" said Tony in the Riseholme manner.
"They won't want me then," said Tony. "And yet she asked me to come at half-past five."
"Nonsense, my dear. They will want you, both of them...Oh Tony, don't you see? It's a stunt."
Tony assumed the rapt expression of Luciaphils receiving intelligence.
"Tell me all about it," he said.
"I'm sure I'm right," said she. "Her poppet came in just now, and she held his hand as women do, and made him draw his chair up to her, and said he had scolded her. I'm not sure that he knows yet. But I saw that he guessed something was up. I wonder if he's clever enough to do it properly...I wish she had chosen you, Tony, you'd have done it perfectly. They have got - don't you see - to have the appearance of being lovers, everyone must think they are lovers, while all the time there's nothing at all of any sort in it. It's a stunt; it's a play; it's a glory."
"But perhaps there is something in it," said Tony. "I really think I had better not go in."
"Tony trust me. Lucia has no more idea of keeping a real lover than of keeping a chimpanzee. "

― E.F. Benson , Lucia in London & Mapp and Lucia (The Mapp & Lucia Novels)

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E.F. Benson quote : News!,"No!" said Tony in the Riseholme manner.
"They won't want me then," said Tony. "And yet she asked me to come at half-past five."
"Nonsense, my dear. They will want you, both of them...Oh Tony, don't you see? It's a stunt."
Tony assumed the rapt expression of Luciaphils receiving intelligence.
"Tell me all about it," he said.
"I'm sure I'm right," said she. "Her poppet came in just now, and she held his hand as women do, and made him draw his chair up to her, and said he had scolded her. I'm not sure that he knows yet. But I saw that he guessed something was up. I wonder if he's clever enough to do it properly...I wish she had chosen you, Tony, you'd have done it perfectly. They have got - don't you see - to have the appearance of being lovers, everyone must think they are lovers, while all the time there's nothing at all of any sort in it. It's a stunt; it's a play; it's a glory."
"But perhaps there is something in it," said Tony. "I really think I had better not go in."
"Tony trust me. Lucia has no more idea of keeping a real lover than of keeping a chimpanzee." style="width:100%;margin:20px 0;"/>
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