“Tell me,” whispered Stella. “Ah, do.”
“I’ve found out that Lily is quite ready to flirt with anybody. With anybody!”
“What a beastly girl!” Stella flamed.
“Well, you can’t expect her to remain true to a creature like me,” said Michael, declaring his self-abasement.
“A creature like you?” cried Stella. “Why, Michael, how can you be so absurd? If you speak of yourself like that, I shall begin to think you are ‘a creature’ as you call yourself. Ah, no, but you’re not, Michael. It’s this Lily who is the creature. Oh, don’t I know her, the insipid puss! A silly little doll that lets everybody pull her about. I hate weak girls. How I despise them!”
“But you despise boys, Stella,” Michael reminded her. “And this chap she was flirting with was much older than me. Perhaps Lily is like you, and prefers older men.”
Michael had no heart left even to maintain his stand against Stella’s alarming opinions and prejudices so frankly expressed.
“Like me,” Stella cried, stamping her foot. “Like me! How dare you compare her with me? I’m not a doll. Do you think anyone has ever dared to kiss me?”
“I’m sorry,” said Michael. “But you talk so very daringly that I shouldn’t be surprized by anything you told me. At the same time I can’t help sympathizing with Lily. It must have been dull to be in love with a schoolboy—an awkward lout of eighteen.”
“Michael! I will not hear you speak of yourself like that. I’m ashamed of you. How can you be so weak? Be proud. Oh, Michael, do be proud—it’s the only thing on earth worth being.”