CHAPTER X.
CROSS PURPOSES
"Noel must take me for a f-fool if he thinks I don't see through him!" said Kate, angrily, to her own image in the glass.
It was about three months after Mr. Howard had offered to help Carolina to regain Guildford.
"H-he wants to p-pump me," she went on, adjusting her motor veil. "I d-don't mind trying his automobile, b-but I hate to t-think he takes me for a s-sucker!"
She rummaged viciously in her top drawer for her goggles.
"I wonder if he th-thinks I don't know he asked Carol first. Men are s-such fools! But j-just wait! He wants m-me to tell him things. M-maybe I won't g-give him a run for his money!"
But, as she ran down the steps and jumped into the powerful new racing machine, all outward trace of vexation was gone, and St. Quentin was quite as excusable as most men who believe they can outwit a clever woman.
Not that St. Quentin was particularly noticeable for his conceit. He seemed like the majority of men, who are merely self-absorbed. Yet in many respects he was quite different.
For example, he was interested in other things besides his motor-cars. He read, thought even, and was somewhat interested in other people's mental processes,--a thing which Kate quite overlooked in her flash of jealousy, for Kate had been obliged to admit to herself that, if the signs spoke truly and Noel were really in love with Carolina, it would be a melancholy thing for her to face.