“Of course she’ll come back. She has no intention of letting any other woman have you. You’ll see … only you must see that she stays away six months this time. That last visit to Mistley wasn’t long enough.”
“I think you understand her better than I do.”
“Oh, I do understand her. That’s the curious thing about it. But it always seems to me that odd people are much easier to understand than simple people. Once you give people credit for being odd, nothing that they do surprises you. What’s so difficult is to give people credit for being simple. Now if Louise would only understand that you are very simple——”
“Am I?”
“Very. You’re one of the least complex people I’ve ever known. None of my children are complex. Not even Connie, who thinks she is. By the way, have you seen her lately?”
“Not for several days. I called at her hotel just before coming here, but she was out.”
“Yes, didn’t you know? This is the afternoon of Petrovitch’s concert. She’s there, with Noel.”
“Ah! Feasting her eyes and ears.”
“You’d better stay and hear Noel’s account of it.” She looked at her watch. “He promised he’d come in afterwards. I’m glad he took her. It will be an outlet for her emotions. The papers just hint that Petrovitch is on the downward grade, Eric. Not the master that he was. He’s not very young, you know.”
“I suppose not. He wasn’t a young man when she first knew him. But if the world were to reject and despise him, Connie would cling to him all the more. So there’s no hope in that direction.”