“Well, you are a cool old duck. What was the idea? What was going to happen to Fliss and the Senatorial career?”
“Temporarily I forgot even Fliss, to say nothing of the latter factor. I’m awfully fond of Cecily, you know.”
“So she turned you down, did she?”
“It’s not funny to me, particularly. Amazing as it is, I was in earnest. What I bring the thing up for is to say simply that you can’t get away with this separation stuff, Dick. Cecily is a young, beautiful woman and I’m not going to be the only person to make that proposition to her. And she is a very lonely woman and her judgments may falter.”
“You mean we should be divorced?”
“I don’t suggest any solutions, Dick. I only want you to realize the situation to the fullest extent. And of course you realize that my rather caddish treatment of Fliss will not be repeated. Fliss gets me and everything I’ve got from now on, just as she always has. Fliss plays awfully fair, you know.”
“Yes, that’s what I like about her. Now Cecily can’t see it. She used to like Fliss, but she turned completely—for no reason.”
“Good reason. Fliss became Anti-Christ to Cecily’s philosophy.”
“Cecily’s philosophy became very narrow in the past year.”
“Narrow, but deep. If it ever broadens now she will be a wonderful person.”