“Telling her about us, you mean?”
She nodded wearily. “You see, she has hoped for years that I would marry her son, and it was rather a blow.”
“Poor old lady, of course it was. But didn’t she know that you had no intention of marrying him anyway?”
Anne avoided the searching eyes, with elaborate carelessness. “Yes, but so long as I remained single, she always felt there was a chance of my changing my mind.”
“Ah, poor old thing! I don’t blame her for being upset at losing you. If I were she, I’d want to commit murder. Was she nasty?”
“No-o.” Anne frowned a little. In her delicate way the Marchesa had certainly been a trifle ironic. But you couldn’t blame her for that, as Anne had not felt it incumbent upon herself to tell the truth in its entirety. Yes, she had been a little cutting and the sting of her words lingered in Anne’s heart. Particularly the inference about the nursemaid wives of erratic geniuses. But the pinched look about her mouth, the added pallor upon the frail ivory face had more than excused her. If one chose to wound one’s dearest friends by indulging in what must seem like inexplicable freaks, one must suffer the consequences.
“You seem a little uncertain?” During Anne’s silence, Alexis’ eyes had darkened with renewed suspicion.
His persistence troubled her. She shrugged fatigued shoulders. “Let’s forget it, dear. What’s the good of rubbing it in? The Marchesa took my news a little harder than necessary perhaps. Our conversation was a very unhappy, miserable affair. You see, I couldn’t tell her everything. And so she doesn’t quite understand. She merely thinks I’ve lost my silly old head over a handsome violinist who will some day leave me high and dry for a fresher and prettier woman. Her point of view is natural, quite refreshingly cynical in fact. She suggested I indulge my infatuation by a temporary liaison rather than in marriage, which couldn’t fail to be fatal!”
She burst into a hysterical little laugh, which Alexis resented furiously.
“Wicked old witch! And I was sorry for her a little while ago!”