"I mean that I allowed Stella to flatter my vanity and lead me into a flirtation which meant nothing at all to her. God!"
"You are responsible for the trouble between Miss Lamar and Gordon, then?"
"Never!" Shirley indicated the body of the star with a quick, passionate sweep of his hand. Now I could not tell whether he was acting or in earnest. "She's responsible!" he exclaimed. "She's responsible for everything!"
"Her death—"
"No!" Shirley sobered suddenly, as if he had forgotten the mystery altogether. "I don't know anything at all about that, nor have I any idea unless—" But he checked himself rather than voice an empty suspicion.
"Just what do you mean, then?" Kennedy was sharp, impatient.
"She made a fool of me, and—and I was engaged to Marilyn Loring—"
"Were engaged? The engagement—"
"Marilyn broke it off last night and wouldn't listen to me, even though
I came to my senses and saw what a fool I had been."
"Was"—Kennedy framed his question carefully—"was your infatuation for
Miss Lamar of long duration?"