“That must be Lucretia,” I thought; and I congratulated myself on my adroit disentanglement. Then I felt some compunction as I thought of Rougette.
But I was reassured, for I saw the two together that very afternoon in front of the café du Panthéon. Rougette looked sweet and serene. Whatever might have been the philandering of Lorrimer it had not disturbed her Breton phlegm. Or, perhaps it was that in her simple faith she was incapable of believing him a gay deceiver. She was more than ever distractingly pretty, so that, looking at her, I could not imagine how any one could neglect her for the olive-skinned Lucretia.
Lorrimer, too, was the picture of prosperity. He wore a new Norfolk suit, and a wide-brimmed grey hat. He looked more faunesque and insouciant than ever, a being all nerves and energy and indomitable gaiety.
“Hullo,” he greeted me; “here’s old Daredeath Dick. Come and join us. Rougette wants to hear all about her ‘pays Breton.’ You’re looking very fit. How’s everything?”
“Excellent, I’m to have a novel published next week, and I’ve got enough money to follow it up with another.”
“What a wonderful chap you are to be able to spread your money out like that! You know wealth would be my ruin. Poverty’s my best friend. Wealth really worries me. I never could work if I had lots of money. By the way, you must see my picture at the Salon des Independents. Rougette and the Neapolitaine are in it. It’s creating quite a sensation.”
“How is our dark friend?”
He shrugged his shoulders gaily. “Just a little embarrassing at times. She’s awfully jealous of Rougette. The other day in the studio she snatched up a knife, and I thought she was going to stick it into me; but she only proceeded to slash up a picture I had done called The Jolie Bretonne, for which Rougette had posed. After that we had a fuss, and I told her all was over between us. So we parted in wrath, and I haven’t spoken to her since. She has a devil of a temper; a good girl to keep away from.”
Poor unsuspecting Lorrimer! I felt guilty for a moment. Then I changed the subject.
“But you’re looking very spruce. Don’t tell me you’ve sold a picture.”