“No. It’s too complicated—too terrible. There are elements in it that would shock and disgust you.... And perhaps you would not believe me——”
“Nonsense!”
“The Government of a great European Power does not believe me to be honest!” she said very quietly. “Why should you?”
“Because I know you.”
She smiled faintly:
“You’re such a dear,” she murmured. “But you talk like a boy. What do you really know about me? We have met just three times in our entire lives. Do any of those encounters really enlighten you? If you were a business man in a responsible position, could you honestly vouch for me?”
“Don’t you credit me with common sense?” he insisted warmly.
She laughed:
“No, Garry, dear, not with very much. Even I have more than you, and that is saying very little. We are inclined to be irresponsible, you and I—inclined to take the world lightly, inclined to laugh, inclined to tread the moonlit way! No, Garry, neither 175 you nor I possess very much of that worldly caution born of hardened wisdom and sharpened wits.”
She smiled almost tenderly at him and pressed his hands between her own.