“I shouldn’t place the guilt entirely upon her shoulders!” laughed Mme. Petrovskey with a kittenish air. “I have often feared that Dr. Elliott in his kindness of heart, must be neglecting his work. I assure you he and Claire have been inseparable all winter.”
Dr. Elliott glared. “I’m afraid you are exaggerating. But Mrs. Petrovskey’s occasional company has proved a great boon to a lonely chap like myself.”
“Occasional!” exclaimed Mme. Petrovskey. “I should hardly call it that, dear Dr. Elliott!”
“It has seemed so to me.”
“Ah, the young are so impetuous!” She raised innocent eyes to the ceiling. “They are never contented with less than all.”
“You choose to be playful,” said the doctor, with a guarded little smile.
Alexis admired the man’s restraint. He, himself, fidgeted uneasily. Did his mother have no decency at all?
“Aren’t we getting rather serious?” he demanded. What a ghastly scene! Why couldn’t the fellow go home? Perhaps he was in love with Claire, after all?
“It’s a serious subject.” Mme. Petrovskey was still sprightly. “Repressed desires are almost as serious as unrepressed.”
The doctor laughed. “Ah, now you are getting on familiar ground. When it comes to Freud, or his fellow Paul Prys,” his eye gleamed dangerously, “I can argue with the best of you.”