“You needn’t worry. Neither would do anything dishonorable even if there were anything in it, and there’s not. If you didn’t imagine it all you were mistaken.”
“Has he never talked to you about her?”
Polly raked her memory. “Yes—I suppose he has. It’s quite the thing to discuss Gita.”
“Hasn’t he talked of her a good deal? May not that be one secret of your attraction for him?”
“You are not very complimentary!”
“I don’t mean, my dear, that you couldn’t charm anyone you thought worth while, whether you let him talk to you about some other girl or not. I am merely trying to open your eyes.”
“Well, I’ll not believe it,” said Polly stubbornly. She was walking up and down the room, her eyes puzzled and angry. “But I’ll sound out Gita this very day. And warn her off the grass if I find she’s been flirting with him. She’s come out of her ‘fort’ to such an amazing extent this winter and has got so accustomed to men raving over her that no doubt she’s as keen as the next girl to stir a man up——”
“Do you believe that Gita is incapable of falling in love?”
“Yes, I do. When I first met her I got the impression she was just the sort to burn herself up over some man, but I know better now. No one could call her sub-normal, but she’s what is known as asexual. Shell’s all right but emotional content gone fluey. Do you know that she doesn’t live with Eustace? That they had an understanding to that effect?”
Mrs. Pleyden blushed slightly. “I inferred as much, but it cannot last.”