Her lips parted in a faint smile. "Oh, but that ended up at Cedarledge."
"Well—?"
"Bless you; I'm not going back."
"Where are you going?"
"To New York first—after that I don't know... Perhaps my aunt's... Perhaps Hollywood..."
The rage in him exploded. "Perhaps Dawnside—eh? Own up!"
She laughed and shrugged again. "Own up? Why not? Anywhere where I can dance and laugh and be hopelessly low-lived and irresponsible."
"And get that blackguard crew about you again, all those—. Lita! Listen to me. Listen. You've got to."
"Got to?" She rounded on him in a quick flare of anger. "I wonder who you think you're talking to? I'm not Gladys Toy."
The unexpectedness of the challenge struck him dumb. For challenge it was, unmistakably. He felt a rush of mingled strength and fear—fear at this inconceivable thing, and the strength her self-betrayal gave him. He returned with equal violence: "No—you're not. You're something so utterly different..."