“Cora,” he cried, aghast, “what’s the matter with you? You’re too many for me sometimes. I thought I understood a few kinds of women! Now listen: I’ve offered to take you, and you can’t say——”
“Offered!” It was she who came toward him now. She came swiftly, shaking with rage, and struck him upon the breast. “`Offered’! Do you think I want to go trailing around Europe with you while Dick Lindley’s money lasts? What kind of a life are you `offering’ me? Do you suppose I’m going to have everybody saying Cora Madison ran away with a jail-bird? Do you think I’m going to dodge decent people in hotels and steamers, and leave a name in this town that—Oh, get out! I don’t want any help from you! I can take care of myself, I tell you; and I don’t have to marry you! I’d kill you if I could—you made a fool of me!” Her voice rose shrilly. “You made a fool of me!”
“Cora——” he began, imploringly.
“You made a fool of me!” She struck him again.
“Strike me,” he said. “I love you!”
“Actor!”
“Cora, I want you. I want you more than I ever——”
She screamed with hysterical laughter. “Liar, liar, liar! The same old guff. Don’t you even see it’s too late for the old rotten tricks?”
“Cora, I want you to come.”
“You poor, conceited fool,” she cried, “do you think you’re the only man I can marry?”