"But why?" asked Windover reverting to the horsewhipping affair, "why should Mrs. Standish——"
"I expected," said Dare, "that some ass——"
"Psychologist," suggested Windover.
"The same thing, old man," was the retort. "I expected that some psychological ass would ask why Millie Standish should behave so oddly. I will tell you. It transpired later that she had evolved a cure of her own.
"She had after all invited Fay to her flat one evening, where she met the smartest women and the cleverest men that Millie could collect. I was not included," he added.
"Fay had turned up in a pale blue satin blouse, a black skirt and white boots. She had hung herself with every ounce of metal she possessed and jingled like a cavalry charger. All the women were very nice to her, tried to draw her out; but the men just stared, first at her and then at each other. It was Millie's hour, and when Standish had put Fay into a taxi, he had wept his repentance, been taken back to Millie's heart, and all was at peace."
"So your whipping came as an anti-climax," said Windover.
"Exactly," was Dare's response.
"Alas!" remarked Windover, "A man can but do his best and a woman her worst."
CHAPTER XIV