"I see. You mean there won't be a penny to keep me?"
Kate was silent.
"If it hadn't been for Stephen I could have kept myself long ago—by my music. That's what I wanted."
"Well, you didn't get what you wanted. Women seldom do."
"I want to go to the Tanquerays. There's no reason why I shouldn't get that."
"You can't go to the Tanquerays as you are."
Minnie gazed at her clothes, then at her reflection in the opposite looking-glass.
She wore a shabby, low-necked gown of some bluish-green stuff, with a collar of coarse lace; also a string of iridescent shells. Under the flame of her hair her prettiness showed haggard and forlorn.
"Yes, you may well look at yourself. You must have new things if you go. That means breaking into five pounds."
Minnie's eyes were still fixed on the face in the looking-glass.