"Stephanie's an extraordinary woman. Moreover, I can't blame her. She can't forget, I think, the day of her return and my denial of her before them all on this very piazza."
"You were a fool!" exclaimed Devereux pithily.
"You're putting it mildly!" Lorraine admitted—"but—oh, well—she came so suddenly, so absolutely unexpectedly that I acted before I thought."
"I can understand, but—Stephanie can't."
"Stephanie can't—and she won't. She won't accept any excuse. She says that if I'd been a proper sort of husband Amherst wouldn't have had a chance."
"Which is peculiar reasoning," Devereux commented:—"If you don't guard me, you're to blame if I go wrong."
"Woman is an exotic—an eccentric!" quoted Lorraine.
"She is. Do you need any further demonstration to prove it? And are you not going to try to persuade her?" Devereux demanded.
"I am, indeed."
"That's right, Lorraine—don't give up! You started wrong, very wrong—end right. Stephanie's worth it—despite the past."