"Absurd!"
"Is it? Just tell me! Wasn't it Mrs. Shiffney who began to talk of the libretto?"
"Well—"
"Of course it was! And didn't she pretend to be deeply interested in what you were doing?"
Claude flushed.
"And didn't she talk of how other artists had trusted her with secrets nobody else knew? And didn't she—didn't she—"
But something in Claude's eyes stopped her as she was going to say—"make love to you."
"And so you gave your libretto up to our enemy to read, and now they are trying to bribe Gillier to ruin us. Why are we here? Why did I give up everything, my whole life, my mother, my friends, our little house, everything I cared for, everything that has made my life till now? Simply for you and for your success. And then for the first woman who comes along—"
Her cheeks were flaming. As she thought more about what had happened a storm of jealousy swept through her heart.
"That's not true or fair—what you imply!" said Claude. "I never—Mrs. Shiffney is absolutely nothing to me—nothing!"