"But I really haven't a good excuse, Claude," she said, troubled, but still indecisive.
"I know girls who wouldn't take two minutes to find an excellent one," he said, with a return of his superior authoritative air.
Janet's temptation was great; greater yet when Claude, in his most handsome and daring manner, drew her out of the chair and put an arm around her waist.
"It's an occasion in a million, Janet. I've set my heart on this ride with you. What does it matter what Robert may think, or what anyone may think, as long as we two want so much to be together? You must come. I shall believe you don't care a straw for me, if you don't."
His flawless form and vibrant voice annihilated argument. With a happy heart but a guilty conscience, Janet dismissed her scruples.
On the way out, she stopped in at Number Thirteen to beg Cornelia to smooth matters over with Robert.
Cornelia, serene and all smiles again, promised to do her best.
III
Robert came home soon after and, getting no response from Number Fifteen, went to his own room in Kelly's suite next door.
He got all the news from Cornelia, who politely tried not to gloat over his disappointment. She professed to see no reason for finding fault with Janet's easy submission to the force of an irresistible attraction.