"No man is beyond reclamation, is he? I think not; I believe not."
The music ceased; the dancers were demanding a repetition of the number. Bassett stood his ground stubbornly.
"Well, I've asked him to do something for me—the only thing I have ever asked him to do that wasn't straight."
There was no evading this; she wondered whether he had deliberately planned this talk, and what it was leading to. In any view it was inexplicable. His brow knit and there was a curious gravity in his eyes as they sought hers searchingly.
"That's his affair entirely, Mr. Bassett," she replied coldly. "He and I are good friends, and of course I should hate to see him make a mistake."
"But the mistake may be mine; let us say that it is mine."
"I had an idea that you didn't make mistakes. Why should you make the serious mistake of asking a good man to do a bad thing?"
"The natural inference would be that I'm a bad man, wouldn't it?"
"It wouldn't be my way of looking at it. All you need is courage to be a great man—you can go far!"
He smiled grimly.