Lanny told about his two adventures; and Penelope said: “Oh, those were horrid girls! I would never have treated you like that, Lanny.”
“There's something to be said for both of them. The English girl belongs to a class and she owes a duty to her family. Don't your parents feel that way?”
“A stockbroker isn't so much in England — unless he's a big one, and my father isn't. He has other people to take care of besides me; that's why I went out on my own. So long as I earn my way, I think I've a right to run my own life. At any rate, I'm doing it.”
“Have you ever had an affair?” he made bold to inquire.
She answered that she had loved a youth in the business school she had attended. His parents were well-to-do, and wouldn't let him marry. “I guess we didn't really care enough for each other to make a fight for it,” she said. “Anyhow, we didn't. It messes things all up when one has more money than the other. That's why I was afraid to let you know that I liked you so much, Lanny. A girl can generally start things up if she wants to.”
“I haven't much money,” said he, quickly.
“I know, you say that. But you have what looks like it to a girl on the salary our Foreign Office pays. I waited, hoping you would speak, but you didn't.”
It was a dangerous conversation. Their hearts were bared to each other and their feelings were stirred; it wouldn't have taken much to “start things up.” But something like an alarm bell was ringing in the young man's soul. This was a lovely girl, and she was entitled to a square deal. It might be that she would call off her engagement and take a chance with him; from vague hints he guessed that the man in London was in business, and was not glamorous to her. But to break with him would be a serious step. If Lanny caused her to do it, he would be under obligations — and was he prepared to keep them? The Peace Conference was drawing to its close and their ways would part. Did he want to invite Penelope to Juan? If so, what would become of her job and her boasted independence? On the other hand, would he follow her to London?
No, he hadn't intended anything so serious. He had been thinking about a little pleasure, in the mood of these days, when men and women had the feeling that life was cheating them. Penelope said something like that; she was leaning closer to him, practically in his arms, and all he had to do was to close them.
“Listen, dear,” he said; and his tone forecast what he was going to say: “If we do this, we'll get fond of each other, and then we'll be unhappy.”