Gyp looked at her steadily and asked:
“Does he drink, then?”
“Pas mal! But there are things besides drink, ma chere.”
Instinct and so much life with Winton made the girl regard it as beneath her to be shocked. She did not seek knowledge of life, but refused to shy away from it or be discomfited; and the baroness, to whom innocence was piquant, went on:
“Des femmes—toujours des femmes! C'est grand dommage. It will spoil his spirit. His sole chance is to find one woman, but I pity her; sapristi, quelle vie pour elle!”
Gyp said calmly:
“Would a man like that ever love?”
The baroness goggled her eyes.
“I have known such a man become a slave. I have known him running after a woman like a lamb while she was deceiving him here and there. On ne peut jamais dire. Ma belle, il y a des choses que vous ne savez pas encore.” She took Gyp's hand. “And yet, one thing is certain. With those eyes and those lips and that figure, YOU have a time before you!”
Gyp withdrew her hand, smiled, and shook her head; she did not believe in love.