“But this man’s a beast and you’ve known it all along!” cried Olivia.
“Only in one way.”
“But—my God! Isn’t that enough?” Olivia stood, racked with disgust and amazement, over her mild-eyed, philosophic friend. “What would you have done if you had been in my place?”
“I could never have been in your place,” said Lydia. “I should have been too wise.”
“How?”
“The knowledge of men, my dear, is the beginning of wisdom.”
“And I ought to have known?”
“Of course. At any rate, you’ll know in the future.”
“I shall. You may be dead certain I shall,” declared Olivia, in her anger and excitement seizing a puckered and pleated cushion from the divan by which she stood. “And if even I—−-”
“Don’t, darling; you’ll tear it,” said Lydia calmly.