"But if Alwynne were engaged to me?"
"She'll never allow it. She'll play on Alwynne's affection for her."
"But why? I shouldn't interfere with their friendship."
"My dear Roger—marriage ends friendship automatically. Clare would be shrewd enough to see that. And even—otherwise—she would never share. You don't guess how jealous women are."
Roger leant back in his chair with a gesture of bewilderment.
"My dearest cousin! The age of sorcery is over. You talk as if Alwynne were under a spell."
"Practically she is. Of course Clare would put it on the highest grounds—unsuitability—a waste of talents. She pretends to despise domesticity. Alwynne would be hypnotised into repeating her arguments as her own opinion."
"Hypnotism?"
"Oh, not literally. But she really does influence some women, and young girls especially, in the most uncanny way. I've watched it so often."
"She's not married?"