ABSTRACT
A heated exchange between Isabel Archer and Madame Merle takes place towards the end of The Portrait of a Lady. It occurs in the wake of Lord Warburton's abortive courtship of Pansy and under the cloud of Osmond's pointedly modulated accusations that Isabel has sabotaged their prospective engagement. Merle, acting as Osmond's ambassador, continues to voice those accusations: that Isabel continues to harbour desire for Warburton, that this desire is responsible for Warburton's botched courtship and that its failure and possible redemption are therefore in Isabel's hands:
If Lord Warburton simply got tired of the poor child, that's one thing; it's a pity. If he gave her up to please you, it's another. That's a pity, too; but in a different way. Then, in the latter case, you would perhaps resign yourself to not being pleased - to simply seeing your step-daughter married. Let him off - let us have him!'
