Phillips shrugged. In a world-weary, cynical tone he asserted, "Women don't interest me."
"What ails you to-day?" Laure inquired, curiously.
"Nothing. I'm not much of a ladies' man, that's all."
"Yes, you are. Anyhow, you were last night."
"I was all tuned up, then," he explained. "That's not my normal pitch."
"Don't you like me as well as you did?"
"Why—certainly."
"Is there another woman?"
"'Another'?" Pierce straightened himself. "There's not even one. What difference would it make if there were?"
"Oh, none." Laure's teeth flashed through the gloom. "I was just curious. Curiosity killed a cat, didn't it? Will you help me up the bank?"