Natalie blew a tiny cloud of cigaret smoke, and watched it for a moment.
“You sound fearfully involved. But never mind about that. I daresay I've done something; I don't know what, but of course I am guilty.”
“Why did you bring Marion here to-day, mother?”
“Well, if you want to know exactly, I met her coming out of church, and it occurred to me that we were having rather a nice luncheon, and that it would be a pity not to ask some one to come in. It was a nice luncheon, wasn't it?”
“That's why you asked her? For food?”
“Brutally put, but correct.”
“You have been asking her here a lot lately. And yet the last time we discussed her you said she was fast. That she wanted to marry me for my money. That people would laugh if I fell for it.”
“I hardly used those words, did I?”
“For heaven's sake, mother,” he cried, exasperated. “Don't quibble. Let's get down to facts. Does your bringing her here mean that you've changed your mind?”
Natalie considered. She was afraid of too quick a surrender lest he grow suspicious. She decided to temporize, with the affectation of frankness that had once deceived Clayton, and that still, she knew, affected Graham.