"I'm afraid—"
"Say! You can't help sneezing when you have a cold. What's a fellow going to do in a crowd like this? But don't worry, I know when to quit."
In truth he did seem better able to take care of himself than most of the men Lorelei had seen, so she said no more.
As he throttled himself with his evening tie Bob gasped: "Having a good time?"
"Ye-es!" Lorelei could not summon courage for a negative answer; she could not confess that her dream had turned out wretchedly, and that what Bob seemed to consider simply the usual thing impressed her as abnormal and wanton.
"Well, that's good," he said. "I'm not strong for these week-end slaughters, but it's something you'll have to do."
"Is all society like—this?" she inquired.
"Um-m, yes and no! Society is like a layer-cake—"
"Because it's made of dough?"
Bob laughed. "Partly! Anyhow, the upper crust is icy, and while the lower layer is just as rich as those above, it's more indigestible. There's the heavy, soggy layers in between, too. I don't know any of that crowd. They're mostly Dodos—the kind that endow colleges. This younger set keeps the whole cake from getting tasteless."