“No, not about Katie. At least—not unless he’s told her. It’s about Philip.”
“What is it?” Millie said again.
“He’s the most awful cad—an absolute outsider. I’ve known it for weeks, only I haven’t decided what to do.”
“I don’t believe it,” Millie said, slowly. “You don’t know enough about men to tell whether a man’s an outsider or not.... What’s he done?”
“In Russia—in Moscow—he had a mistress for years—and they had a son. He’s never said anything about it, but it’s true. They say he had an awful reputation in Moscow.”
“Who’s ‘they’?” said Millie, slowly. The colour mounted into her cheeks.
“A man I know—a friend of Seymour’s. Oh! I know it’s true. There isn’t any sort of doubt about it.”
“I daresay it is. Men are like that,” Millie said, with profundity.
“Decent men aren’t. Not the sort of man who will marry Katie.”
Millie said nothing, and there was a long silence in the room. Then, with a deep sigh, Millie said: