He had fallen. She knew and tasted consciousness of power.
Another side of the girl's complex personality appeared. She led him on and tried to draw back. She became provocative at moments when he did not respond at once. She flirted with a finished art.
As he lit a cigarette for her, she tested the "power of the hour" to its limit, showing without possibility of mistake how aware she was.
"What would Mrs. Lothian think of your bringing me here to dinner?" she said very suddenly.
For a moment he did not know what to answer, the attack was so direct, the little feline thrust revealing so surely where he stood.
"She would be delighted that I was having such a jolly evening," he answered, but neither his smile nor his voice was quite true.
She smiled at him in girlish mockery, rejoicing!
"You little devil!" he thought with an embarrassed mental grin. "How dare you." She should pay for that.
"Would you mind if my wife did care," he asked, looking her straight in the eyes.
"I ought to, but—I shouldn't!" she answered recklessly, and all his blood became fired.