"Don't let's go yet," urged his sister. "The most interesting people are beginning to come. Besides, I want more champagne."
He yielded. While she gazed round with the air of a visitor to a Zoo that is affected by fashionable people, and commented on the faces, figures, and clothes of the women, he stared at his plate and smoked and drank. Finally she said, "I'd give anything to see you make a fool of yourself, just once."
He grinned. "Things are in the way to having your wish gratified," he said. "It looks to me as if my time had come."
She tried to conceal her anxiety. "Are you serious?" she asked. Then added: "Of course not. You simply couldn't. Especially now—when Josephine might hear. I suppose you've noticed how Joe Culver is hanging round her?"
He nodded.
"There's no danger—unless——"
"I shall marry Josephine."
"Not if she hears."
"She's not going to hear."
"Don't be too sure. Women love to boast. It tickles their vanity to have a man. Yes, they pretend to be madly in love simply to give themselves the excuse for tattling."