"I did it," she said, "because I thought I saw a way to help you and Patricia out of your difficulties. I saw that we could leave the box without her knowledge, and believed that neither she nor her companions would discover our departure for some time afterward. I remembered just then that Patricia had witnessed the tender and somewhat touching scene in the box between you and me. My goodness, Roderick! I hope you didn't think that I meant that! It was all done for Patricia's benefit, you goose! Didn't you know that? Did you suppose that I had suddenly fallen head over heels in love with you? You're not very complimentary, are you? Or is it that you were throwing bouquets at yourself?"
"Will you tell me why you did it?" he asked, flushing hotly under the jibe.
"Because I wished Patricia to see it."
"Why?"
"I thought it might bring her to her senses."
"How, Beatrice?"
"Jealousy, you dunce!"
"But why the rest of your superb play-acting?"
"It all works out toward the same end. Don't you suppose that Patricia is in hot water, by this time? When she realized that we had sneaked away, to put it plainly, don't you think she would put two and two together, and make four out of it?"
"It strikes me," he interrupted her, with a light laugh, "that this is a case where two are supposed to make one."