Ken did not reply, but he had an uncomfortable feeling that Bert was right.
“You’d better give her a chance to explain—or did you burst in on the party and rear and tear all over the place?”
“They never knew I saw them.”
“Then, old son, you’d better let Andree tell you about it. Madeleine says she loves you and Arlette says she loves you—and, believe me, they’re experts.”
“If she loves me, and then would do such a thing, it’s all the worse.... I’ll never see her again.”
“Well, if your mind’s made up, there’s the end of the whole thing. Get up and eat and forget it.... The river’s full of fish.”
“You don’t think I’d try it again. Never!... I’ve been a fool, and a rotten fool.... I fooled myself into thinking one could do this kind of thing and not be wrong. I got it into my head that our ideas of morals in America were old-fashioned and narrow and absurd, and that the French were right.”
“Of course you’d have to philosophize about it.”
“Well, I’m through now. I’ve got what was coming to me—and right on top of it there was a letter from mother.”
“I’ll bet I know the kind. I’ve stayed at your house, you know.”