"And she let you go? I told you she would!"
"Oh, no one's likely to fight over my body! And Violet's too well-bred to make even a veiled scene. Besides, I think she understood—to the uttermost farthing."
"Then there's not the least need for you to be grumpy. Sit down on the arm of my chair, but don't topple me over. Have you ever seen anything quite so grotesque as poor Johnnie Carstairs? In case you don't know, he's supposed to represent Danton."
"I daresay. I don't want to talk about Johnnie Carstairs. Barbara, I've had enough of these antics."
He stood stiffly at a distance, towering over her and refusing to see the hand that invited him to her chair.
"Jim, are you angry with me?" she asked in surprise. "Remember, you challenged me; you ought to take a beating in good part."
"Oh, I don't greatly care how you behave to me, but I resent being made an instrument of rudeness to others. You've got to apologize to Violet."
"For giving her Val Arden instead of you for a partner? My dear, you're about equally tiresome in different ways, but Val is far more amusing. I rather expect Violet to come up and thank me. Do you like to challenge me over that?"
"I've no doubt that, if I challenged you to play leap-frog with Murano, you'd do it. I don't challenge you to do anything."
Barbara laughed softly.