Alathea flashed at me. She was beginning to realize that she was at a
disadvantage.
"You are not unutterably shocked that I should have had a--friend, are
you?"
Her face grew contemptuous.
"No, my father had one. Men are all beasts."
"They may be in the abstract, but are not when they can find a woman
worth love and respect."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"My mother is an angel."
"Now that your mind is at rest as to this question, have you any other
cause of complaint against me? Though why it should matter to you what I
do or don't do in this respect, as long as I am courteous to you, and
fulfill my side of the bargain, I cannot think. One could imagine you
were jealous!"
"Jealous!" she flared furiously. "Jealous, I! How ridiculous.--One has
to care to be jealous!" and then she flounced out of the room.
Yes,--even when they appear all that is balanced, there is nothing so
amazing as a woman!