“I don't know,” said he, abruptly.
“The fascinating widow seems to be throwing herself away,” continued the other.
“What makes you say that?” he asked.
“Vivie Patton told me,” said she. “She's an old flame of Stanley Ryder's, you know; and so I imagine it came directly from him.”
Montague was dumb; he could think of nothing to say.
“It's too bad,” said Mrs. Billy. “She is really a charming creature. And it will hurt her, you know—she is a stranger, and it's a trifle too sudden. Is that the Mississippi way?”
Montague forced himself to say, “Lucy is her own mistress.” But his feeble impulse toward conversation was checked by Mrs. Billy's prompt response, “Vivie said she was Stanley Ryder's.”
“I understand how you feel,” continued the great lady, after a pause. “Everybody will be talking about it.—Your friend Reggie Mann heard what Vivie said, and he will see to that.”
“Reggie Mann is no friend of mine,” said Montague, abruptly.
There was a pause. “How in the world do you stand that man?” he asked, by way of changing the conversation.