"I'm not afraid of him," she answered indifferently. "Most women are attracted by him, you know. You haven't seen his other side."
"I don't want to."
"I hope you don't," she agreed. "Say, did you know you made quite a hit with Sandra, Mr. Nash?"
Hugh and Nikka laughed. I flushed.
"Oh, you needn't flare up," she said. "I can see why you did. You boys are a good bunch of sports. I wish we didn't have to trim you."
"Why do it, then?" asked Hugh.
"I don't sell out," she answered curtly. "Get that straight, Lord Chesby. Since I was a kid, I've had to fight my own way. As near as I can make out, the kind of people who are called respectable and honest are only cleverer crooks than the rest of us. I'm out to make all I can in my own way, and I play according to the rules of my mob."
"You called us good sports," Nikka pointed out.
It was her turn to flush.
"Call it a woman's soft heart," she returned. "Honestly, I get fed up on this life once in a while. If I could have married a decent Wop back in New York, and had a few kids and worked my fingers off— Well, I wouldn't have been able to get along without corsets and put it over you the way I did in the Marseilles train the other night, Lord Chesby."