Ashley: "I can't tell you; she may have had her reasons, or she may not. Can you possibly tell me, in return for my ignorance, why the fact of her engagement should involve me in the strange way it seems to have done with Miss Ramsey?"
Miss Garnett, with a burst of involuntary candor: "Why, I did that. Or, no! What's she been doing?"
Ashley: "Really, Miss Garnett—"
Miss Garnett: "How can I tell you anything, if you don't tell me everything? You wouldn't wish me to betray confidence?"
Ashley: "No, certainly not. What was the confidence?"
Miss Garnett: "Well— But I shall have to know first what she's been doing. You must see that yourself, Mr. Ashley." He is silent. "Has she—has Isobel—been behaving—well, out of character?"
Ashley: "Very much indeed."
Miss Garnett: "I expected she would." She fetches a thoughtful sigh, and for her greater emotional convenience she sinks into an easy-chair and leans forward. "Oh dear! It is a scrape." Suddenly and imperatively: "Tell me exactly what she did, if you hope for any help whatever."
Ashley: "Why, she offered me a cocktail—"
Miss Garnett: "Oh, how good! I didn't suppose she would dare! Well?"