Williams had only to look into her set little face to see that it was hopeless to argue with her, but he had hopes of Hale. He had formed a favorable opinion of the young man and simply did not believe he was a party to any such plan.
"I should like to have a talk with Hale," he said.
"He's gone out of town," answered Doris. "He won't be back until a day or two before we sail."
Antonia gave a sound between a bleat and a whinny.
"You're sailing on the same steamer?"
"Of course—with my secretary."
She left the room.
In the course of the next few minutes Williams was surprised to discover the words included in the vocabulary of so majestic a woman as Antonia. There was nothing she did not call her sister-in-law, although she ended each sentence with an assertion that she wouldn't really do it.
"I wouldn't count on that," said Williams. "Most people are restrained by the opinion of their social group; but, as Mrs. Southgate says, she doesn't seem to have any group."
"Do you forget there is such a thing as a moral sense?" asked Antonia.