Margaret spoke first.
'How did you dare to settle money on me?' she asked, standing back from
him.
Logotheti understood for the first time that she was angry with him,
and that her anger had brought her to his house. The fact did not
impress him much, though he wished she were in a better temper. The
sound of her voice was sweet to him whatever she said.
'Oh?' he ejaculated with a sort of thoughtful interrogation. 'Has she
told you? She had agreed to say nothing about it. How very annoying!' His sudden calm was exasperating, for Margaret did not know him well
enough to see that below the surface his blood was boiling. She tapped
the blue tiled floor sharply with the toe of her shoe.
'It's outrageous!' she said with energy.
'I quite agree with you. Won't you sit down?' Logotheti looked at the
divan. Margaret half sat upon the arm of a big leathern chair.
'Oh, you agree with me? Will you please explain?' 'I mean, it is outrageous that Mrs. Rushmore should have told you----' 'You're quibbling!' Margaret broke in angrily. 'You know very well what
I mean. It's an outrage that a man should put a woman under an enormous
obligation in spite of herself, without her even knowing it!' Logotheti had seated himself where he could watch her; the fashion of
dress was close-fitting; his eyes followed the graceful lines of her
figure. If she had not come to drive him mad, why did she take an
attitude which of all others is becoming to well-made women and fatal
to all the rest?
'I'm sorry,' said Logotheti, rather absently and as if her anger did
not affect him in the least, if he even noticed it. 'I happened to want
the invention for a company in which I am interested. You stood in the
way of my having the whole thing, so I was obliged to buy you out. I'm
very sorry that it happened to be you, and that Mrs. Rushmore could not
keep the fact to herself. I knew you wouldn't be pleased if you ever
found it out.' 'I don't believe a word of what you are telling me,' Margaret answered.
'Really not?' Logotheti seemed momentarily interested. 'That's
generally the way when one speaks the truth,' he added, more carelessly
again. 'Nobody believes it.' His eyes caressed her as he spoke. He was not thinking much of what he
said.
'I've come here to make you take back the money,' Margaret said. 'I
won't keep it another day.' 'Have you come all the way from Versailles again to say that?' asked
Logotheti, laughing.