"Di!"
"I am not! I care for him unselfishly. I don't know why I should, but I do; and he ought not to marry me even if he—ever—wished to."
"You are talking wildly, darling! You—not good enough for him! What a silly——"
"Not good enough, I tell you!" repeated the girl fiercely. "I care too much for what he finds agreeable—all this ease and relaxation.... I wish I were different. I wish I could arouse him; I'd do it. I'd do it somehow—I'd do it now if I could——"
She caught her breath, stood perfectly motionless a moment, then Silvette felt her tremble slightly.
After a while she lifted her head from her sister's shoulder.
"I am going to do what I can for him," she said excitedly. "I am going to see what can be done to arouse the man in him. All he needs is the initial shock—a—a stinging one."
"What do you mean? If there was anything in him, the shock of the firm's failure would have brought it out."
"It was not enough. It was only the loss of money! There are worse things——"
"Di! What are you going to do?"