'But it's a monstrous thing to do,' he cried. 'You can't entrap the man in that way.'
'I know it's monstrous,' she answered. 'But that's the only advantage of being an American in England, that one can do monstrous things. You look upon us as first cousins to the red Indians, and you expect anything from us. In America I have to mind my p's and q's. I mayn't smoke in public, I shouldn't dream of lunching in a restaurant alone with a man, and I'm the most conventional person in the most conventional society in the world; but here, because the English are under the delusion that New York society is free and easy, and that American women have no restraint, I can kick over the traces, and no one will think it even odd.'
'But, my dear, it's a mere matter of common decency.'
'There are times when common decency is out of place,' she replied.
'Alec will never forgive you.'
'I don't care. I think he ought to see Lucy, and since he'd refuse if I asked him, I'm not going to give him the chance.'
'What will you do if he just bows and walks off?'
'I have his assurance that he'll behave like a civilised man,' she answered.
'I wash my hands of it,' said Dick. 'I think it's perfectly indefensible.'
'I never said it wasn't,' she agreed. 'But you see, I'm only a poor, weak woman, and I'm not supposed to have any sense of honour or propriety. You must let me take what advantage I can of the disabilities of the weaker sex.'