He took a turn across the room.
The few steps brought him in front of the mantel and the photograph of the modern lady in her furs and close hat. He stood and met the fire of her mocking eyes.
"And you believe him, Jimmy!" he could hear her say in her delicious voice.
"Yes," he mentally told her, "I believe him."
"You think that to save a woman's name and honor he has become an outcast on the face of the earth ... Jimmy!"
He still gently replied to her:
"Men who love, you know, have but one code—the woman and honor."
Still mocking, but gentle as would have been the touch of the roses in the bowl near the photograph, her voice told him,
"Then he's worth saving, Jimmy."
Worth saving ... he agreed, and turned to his guest. In doing so he saw that Ruggles had come into the drawing-room to remove the coffee-tray.