“What was the topic this time, Peggy?”
“‘What does a woman remember longest?’ May I have some more hot water, my tea is a little too strong?”
“And what answer did they find for it?” asked Beatrice, taking up the hot water kettle as Peggy held out her cup.
“Why, they decided that no woman ever forgets ‘the man who has once loved her.’ My gracious, Beatrice, look out!” as a few drops of boiling water went splashing over her fingers.
“Oh, Peggy, did I scald you?”
“Not very much,” groaned Peggy, putting her injured finger in her mouth, that human receptacle for all things—good and bad.
“I am so sorry, dear. Tell me, did you hear anything exciting at luncheon?”
“Nothing in particular.” Peggy could not tell her that the chief topic at the table had been the Trevor murder, so she rattled on: “People say that divorce proceedings are pending in the Van Auken family. You know their home is called ‘the house of a thousand scandals.’ But the latest news is that Martha Underhill’s engagement to Bobby Crane has been broken off.”
“Why?” asked Beatrice, her curiosity excited.
“Well, they quarreled about Donald Gordon—” Beatrice’s convulsive start brought Peggy up short. As usual her thoughtless tongue had gotten her into hot water. To hesitate would be but to make a bad matter worse, so she went bravely on: “Bobby is desperately jealous, and simply hates to have Martha even look at any other man. So he was simply raging when she told him she intended dancing the last Bachelors’ with Mr. Gordon, who is an old friend of hers. Bobby was very nasty about it. Yesterday when we were all walking up Connecticut Avenue from St. John’s, Martha remarked how mortified she had been at being left without a partner during the first part of the cotillion.