“Not of my own experience, Mrs. Clephane,” she replied confidentially, “but I have it from those who do know, that he set a merry pace and travelled the limit with his fair companions. It was sad, too—he was a most charming fellow. Rumour also had it that he was none too happy in his marriage, and that his Mrs. Clephane was something of the same sort. I’ve seen her several times; she was of the type to make men’s hearts flutter.”
“It’s no particular trick to make men’s hearts flutter,” said Mrs. Clephane sweetly.
“How about it, Mr. Harleston?” Mrs. Spencer asked.
“No trick whatever,” he agreed, “provided she choose the proper method for the particular man; and some men are easier than others.”
“For instance?” Mrs. Spencer inflected.
“No instance. I give it to you as a general proposition and without charge; which is something unusual in these days of tips and gratuities and subsidized graft and things equally predatory.”
Mrs. Spencer arose. “The mere mention of graft puts me to instant flight,” she remarked.
“And naturally even the suggestion of a crime is equally repugnant to you,” Mrs. Clephane observed.
“‘As a general proposition,’” Mrs. Spencer quoted.
“And general propositions are best proved by exceptions, n’est-ce pas?” was the quick yet drawling answer.