"I was hungry," snapped Zoie.
"Oh," grunted Jimmy, and in spite of his dislike of the small creature
his vanity resented the bald assertion that she had not lunched with him
for his company's sake.
"I wouldn't have made an engagement with you of course," she continued,
with a frankness that vanquished any remaining conceit that Jimmy might
have brought with him. "I explained to you how it was at the time. It
was merely a case of convenience. You know that."
Jimmy was beginning to see it more and more in the light of an
inconvenience.
"If you hadn't been in front of that horrid old restaurant just when I
was passing," she continued, "all this would never have happened. But
you were there, and you asked me to come in and have a bite with you;
and I did, and there you are."
"Yes, there I am," assented Jimmy dismally. There was no doubt about
where he was now, but where was he going to end? That was the question.
"See here," he exclaimed with fast growing uneasiness, "I don't like
being mixed up in this sort of thing."
"Of course you'd think of yourself first," sneered Zoie. "That's just
like a man."
"Well, I don't want to get your husband down on me," argued Jimmy
evasively.
"Oh, I didn't give YOU away," sneered Zoie. "YOU needn't worry," and she
fixed her eyes upon him with a scornful expression that left no doubt as
to her opinion that he was a craven coward.
"But you said he'd 'found out,'" stammered Jimmy.
"He's found out that I ate with a MAN," answered Zoie, more and more
aggrieved at having to employ so much detail in the midst of her
distress. "He doesn't know it was you."
"But Zoie----" protested Jimmy.
She lifted a small hand, begging him to spare her further questions.
It was apparent that she must explain each aspect of their present
difficulty, with as much patience as though Jimmy were in reality only a
child. She sank into her chair and then proceeded, with a martyred air.
"You see it was like this," she said. "Alfred came into the restaurant
just after we had gone out and Henri, the waiter who has taken care
of him for years, told him that I had just been in to luncheon with a
gentleman."
Jimmy shifted about on the edge of his chair, ill at ease.