The crowded room, the buzz of conversation, and the expensive wines completed Minna’s sense of content.
“I am glad that you prefer champagne extra sec,” said Mrs. Delamere, after the first appreciative sip. “So many women go for Veuve Cliquot, when they can.”
“Yes, and make men afraid to dine with them,” said Minna. “I felt sure that your taste and mine would coincide. Yet I had to educate myself up to it.”
“The education will not be thrown away,” said Mrs. Delamere.
“Men are beasts,” said Minna. “There is scarcely one who can stand against an appeal to his own little pet sensuality. But there is no amusement or excitement in life without men—and so it is worth while studying their sensualities.”
Mrs. Delamere assented with a polite gesture.
“Do you think I am too cynical for my age?” asked Minna in her languorous voice.
“Age is a matter of experience rather than of years.”
“Well—too cynical for my experience?”
Mrs. Delamere pursed her thin lips in a smile.