“I can scarcely believe it was all real. Those practical jokes, the kind of suppressed hysteria plus pleasure-as-usual atmosphere in the camp—well, they were nasty enough at the time, but they look hopelessly far-fetched to me now. I can’t seem able to take them seriously.”
“You’ve Esmeralda Jones to thank for that. She’s got many admirable qualities; but she was a spoilt child, and spoilt children are apt to grow up irresponsible, and irresponsible adults—by not facing the seriousness of their own actions—do create a dream atmosphere that affects outsiders too. She’s a throwback to the Bright Young Things. Nobody else would have thought out so fantastic a method of gaining the objective. Unfortunately, she has an intelligence quite equal to her ambition and her uncontrollable love of mischief, so the campaign became a really formidable one. But Leyman would probably have double-crossed them in the end, anyway. I’m sorry for her.”
“I’m not,” said Sally. “I’m sorry for Captain Wise, a little. Fancy having that woman treading on your heels all the time. I bet she’d have chucked him aside as soon as she’d got the money. I always said she was a gold-digger.”
“Perhaps. But she was genuinely fond of him. As a girl, she had all the power that money can buy. Wise was a relic, a reminder of that kingdom. She bossed him, and by doing so kept an edge on her appetite for power. She——”
Like Alice, the train plunged into a tunnel. The darkness and clattering din stopped all conversation. Paul and Sally may have found another use for it, though.
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