Mrs. Van Tyle's little laugh rippled out. “You're quite dramatic about it, my dear. The man's of no importance. He's a poseur, a demagogue, and one with a vicious streak in him. I understand, of course, that you're interested only because he different from the other men you know. That merely a part of his pose.”
“I'm sure it isn't.”
“You're romantic, my dear. I'll admit his arrival on this ship was dramatic. No doubt you're imagining him a knight going back to save gallantly a day that is lost. He's only a politician, and so far as I can understand they are almost all a bad lot.”
“Including Father and Uncle Joe and Ned Merrill?” Alice asked acidly.
“They are not politicians, but business men. They are in politics merely to protect their interests. But I didn't intend to start a discussion about Mr. Farnum. I ask you to remember that as your chaperone I'm here to represent your father. Would he wish you to be friendly with this man?”
Alice was silent. What her father would think was not a matter of doubt.
“The man's impossible,” Mrs. Van Tyle went on pleasantly. “And it's just as well to be careful. Not that I'm very prudish myself. But if you're going to marry Ned Merrill—”
She had struck the wrong note. Like a flash Alice answered.
“I'm not. That's definitely decided.”
“Really! I thought it was rather arranged,” Valencia smiled blandly.