“She’s a charming—a lovely woman,” said he.
There was doubt of my candor in his eyes. It is all but impossible for a man rightly to judge any woman except her he has tired of or for some other reason does not want and cannot imagine himself wanting. The unpossessed woman has but the one value; the possessed woman must have other values—or she has none. Armitage could judge Edna only as female, unpossessed female. Said he:
“She’s a charming—a lovely woman.”
“Like the former Mrs. Armitage,” I reminded him.
“So—so,” conceded he. “But I’ve always believed you were a fond husband at bottom.”
“Dismiss it from your mind,” said I. “You are hesitating about telling me something. Say it!”
With a certain nervousness he yielded to his love of gossip. “Prince Frascatoni—you know him?”
I beamed in a reassuring smile. “My late wife’s chief admirer,” said I. “A fine fellow. I like him.”
“He’s visiting down at—what’s the name of the place your son-in-law has taken?”
“He is?” exclaimed I jubilantly. “When did he go?”