"What could you tell him?"
"I could tell him that you're making a fool of him—keeping him dangling on till you have arranged the other affair one way or the other. What would he say then?"
Kate knew that Haddington was already tried to the uttermost. She knew what he would say.
"You see I could—if you'll allow me the metaphor—blow you out of the water."
"You daren't confess how you got the knowledge."
"Oh, dear me, yes," said Ayre, smiling. "When you're opening a blind man's eyes he doesn't ask after your moral character. You must consider the situation on the hypothesis that I am shameless."
Kate was not strong enough to carry on the battle. She had fury, but not doggedness. She burst into tears.
"If I were doing all you say, whose fault was it?" she sobbed. "Didn't Eugene treat me shamefully?"
"If he flirted a little, it was in part your fault. If you had flirted a little with Haddington, I should have said nothing. But this—well, this is a little strong."
"I am a very unhappy girl," said Kate.