"You need no education, Miss Quin," he cried. "She simply isn't an artist."
Patricia flushed deeply.
"I thought you were ... were praising her the other evening," she said, indignant and breathless, her face alight with vivacity. She was obviously loyal, obviously in earnest, and in such company demanding to be teased.
Monty's wicked smile made the others laugh.
"One must be polite, of course," he said.
"You think she's bad?" demanded Patricia. "I mean, you think her work is bad?"
"Terrible." They laughed again.
"But you praised her. Why do you let her go on?"
"One lets everybody go on. You can't stop a runaway car or a deluded woman."