‘Come and sit here,’ Rodman said, patting his knee.
Alice obeyed him.
‘What is it, Willis? What have you found out? Do tell me, there’s a dear!’
‘I’ll tell you one thing, old girl: you’re losing your good looks. Nothing like what you were when I married you.’
She flushed and looked miserable.
‘I can’t help my looks. I don’t believe you care how I look.’
‘Oh, don’t I, though! Why, do you think I’d have stuck to you like this if I didn’t? What was to prevent me from realising all the cash I could and clearing off, eh? ‘Twouldn’t have been the first—’
‘The first what?’ Alice asked sharply.
‘Never mind. You see I didn’t do it. Too bad to leave the Princess in the lurch, wouldn’t it be?’
Alice seemed to have forgotten the other secret. She searched his face for a moment, deeply troubled, then asked: