Rosa began to sob, and I led her back to her chair.
"I ought not to have told you to-night," I said. "But we should communicate with the police, and I wanted your authority before doing so."
She dried her eyes, but her frame still shook.
"I will sing 'Carmen,'" she said passionately.
"Of course you will. We must get these two arrested, and you shall have proper protection."
"Police? No! We will have no police."
"You object to the scandal? I had thought of that."
"It is not that I object to the scandal. I despise Deschamps and Yvette too much to take the slightest notice of either of them. I could not have believed that women would so treat another woman." She hid her face in her hands.
"But is it not your duty—" I began.