"That's true."
"Then why do you do it? It must cost a heap of money."
"I don't know," she said slowly. "Habit, I suppose. In the beginning it seemed like the only thing open to a woman like me, the only way to get on; to build up a social position I mean, and so be powerful. Now I have it, I find there's nothing in it."
"Then why don't you give it up."
She looked at him in a scared way. "How could I? I'm in the thick of the game. I've got to play it out. What else could I do? Where could I go?"
"You have real friends, I suppose."
"I had once. But after the scramble of the last three years—I don't know——!"
The words "three years" struck Jack with meaning. That corresponded exactly with the period of "Mr. B.'s" activities.
"Any one could begin a new life if they really wished," he said.
She looked at him queerly. "You're not leading up to a proposal of marriage, are you?"