She left, omitting her customary lyrical phrases of affection. Janet did not suspect the jealousy behind this omission. But she was undeniably disappointed because Cornelia had not encouraged her to discuss her friendships with Claude and Robert about whom her heart and her thoughts were brimful.
Thus quickly did Cornelia damp down the fire of intimacy by treating the exchange of self-revelation as a strictly one-sided transaction. She had (so it struck Janet) a very low opinion of all confidences—other than her own.
II
When the bell rang, Janet opened the door wondering why Robert had come an hour before the appointed time.
But it was Claude who entered! He came in, like the god of the glorious spring without, in his gayest, most engaging mood.
"What luck, to find you in!" he cried. "Janet, I've come in an open car on the chance of taking you for a spin to Mineola to see the start of the great Cross-Continental airplane race."
"Oh, Claude, how nice of you. But—I'm afraid I can't go."
"Why not?"
"Well—you see—I've promised to go out with Robert this afternoon."
His face clouded.