“Well, that’s not your fault,” said Stanny, slightly exasperated. “You’re too easy. She knows she’s got a good thing, and she’s nursing it along. . . . I say, it’s not natural at our age.”
“What else is there to do, nights?” grumbled Jasper. “We haven’t any money to spend.”
“Loaf!” said Stanny, promptly. “A certain amount of loafing is necessary to the soul’s health. You’re doing violence to your nature with this continual grind. It’ll get back at you some day. This self-improvement business can be carried too far. How can you improve when you’ve worked yourself into a half-doped state? . . . I bet you fall asleep in your chair at Mme. Tardieu’s many’s the night, while the old body drools on.”
“It’s a fact,” confessed Jasper.
While they talked together, ignoring him, Wilfred quieted down. It was better they should ignore him, he thought; for if, as was probable, they should not like him, that would be worse. Meanwhile what a glimpse into their lives he was getting!
“Last night,” said Jasper in his diffident, masculine voice, “I was sitting in Madame Tardieu’s room. It’s true, I was half asleep. I happened to look out of the window. . . . In the house opposite, there was a girl going to bed. She’d forgotten to pull down the shades. . . . Damn nice-looking girl! When she put up her arms to unpin her hair . . . lovely round arms . . . such a picture! . . . Well . . . I lost my head. I said good-night to the old lady in a hurry, and I went . . . I mean I went across the street. . . .”
“What!” exclaimed Stanny.
“It’s a rooming house. The outer door was closed. I waited on the stoop until one of the lodgers came home. Told him I’d lost my key. He let me in. I went up to the girl’s room and went in. . . .”
“Good God! what did she say?” demanded Stanny.
“Oh, she was surprised,” said Jasper shyly. “But she didn’t make much of a fuss . . . I stayed. . . .”