"Please don't look at me as if you were biting a lemon. I didn't think so. And Dare doesn't now."
"How sweet of her!"
"She's turning sweet. That's partly what I was after. I wormed myself into your brother's affections, to entice him to Paris. I wanted Dare to learn that her instinct about him was right; her instinct was always defending him against what she thought was her reason and common sense. Now, she sees that he's genuine, and she's secretly letting herself go—admiring him and wondering at him to make up for her injustice."
"Are you telling all this to disarm me?"
"Not exactly. I'm telling you because I was sure you'd find out soon what's going on, and because I thought an open policy best. As it is, you can't say I haven't played fair from the word go."
"I wish," I cried out, "that the word was 'go'!"
"You're not very kind, my dear."
"Why should I be kind?"
"Because I'm the stick of your rocket. You can't soar without me. And because I love you such a lot."
"You!"