It was this eternal, insoluble question of the hold that a man retained on the woman whom he had once possessed, the hold of the faithless and the brutal on those whom they betrayed and ill-treated, the hold which women confessed and of which some men boasted. Gaymer had almost said in words that, as Ivy had once fallen to him, in her great first surrender, she would yield again when he demanded it of her... Eric found himself leaning against a tree on the Mall, idly watching the taxis which raced with a jar and rattle towards Buckingham Palace. Here was a sex difference, for women retained no such hold on their men. And he had spent half of his life trying to understand and systematize the psychology of women. If Gaymer fought him for possession of Ivy, it was anybody’s victory.
The doctor was gone by the time that he reached his flat, but the nurse reported that all was well and that her patient was out of danger, almost out of pain. He telephoned reassuringly to Lady Maitland and asked leave to say good-night to Ivy. When he opened the door, her eyes were closed, and he felt a hot wave of anger that he should have submitted to threats from a cad who sat soaking himself with brandy, that he should still be threatened....
Ivy opened her eyes and beckoned to him, with a smile.
“Don’t look so worried, dearest!,” she whispered. “I know I’m being a frightful nuisance to you.”
“Are you better?,” he asked, kissing her hand, which was dry and hot.
“I’m all right—honestly. I only feel rather tired. I won’t be a nuisance to you any more, though.” She turned away with a jerk that set her short hair tossing. “You can get rid of me now, Eric, if you want to.”
“If I want to? I thought I’d lost you to-day, Ivy. It wasn’t a very pleasant feeling.”
“Would you really be sorry...?” She stretched out her hand and caught his wrist. “Eric, be honest with me! You can get rid of me now—Oh, that sounds so horribly ungracious! But you know what I mean. Do you want me, Eric, or were you just sacrificing yourself for me? Tell me honestly. I can bear it.”
She turned her face to him again; and he saw that her eyes were narrowed and her lips tightly shut, as though she were nerving herself to be struck.
“Can I keep you, if I want you?,” he asked.