"From that dance? Wonderful dance!"
"It's your sex that's wonderful. If you don't believe me, ask her."
"I don't think it will be necessary. There's just one thing you've forgotten."
"What's that?"
"Him."
"Oh, I've forgotten him!" she smiled, touching the reddened lips with her fingertips.
"Him and what he may do. I think you'll find you've left that out of the account. We shall see.... So I take it you dodged me all the afternoon because we hadn't all been properly introduced to the new situation, so to speak? Is that it?"
"Yes, that's quite good. There's no stealing advantages now. Everything's on the square, and what sort of a vermouth do they give you here?"
With that I asked her a question that for the moment surprised even her. I asked it perfectly seriously, seeking not only the unblinkered eye, but also the one within its deep ambush of white hat-brim.
"Julia, are you yourself in every respect the same woman to-day that you were before we had our talk yesterday?"