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 she would find him as undesirable as the men of Kansas City.

She merely smiled at these vapid objections, announcing that they were music to her ears after all the flattering ointment that had been rubbed into her excessively lovely countenance by the males she had previously encountered. He would, she assured him, eternally be desirable to her if he refused to fall in love with her. The extreme happiness she would derive from being the consort of a man of such distinction and fame would more than compensate for any lack of affection on his part.

However, she had continued resolutely, I've no intention of forcing you to take a step which as yet you have had no time to consider. As a matter of fact, she mused, as if the idea had just occurred to her, I don't insist on marriage at all. In any case, however, I can't give up the idea that whatever is to happen to me some sort of alliance with you will prove distinctly advantageous.

You are, she had continued, on your way to Hollywood. . . . Ambrose had shuddered as he had realized that he could no longer deny this. . . . I have observed you in conversation with Herbert Ringrose. I have seen you consorting with Imperia Starling. It is obvious to me that that sallow dame with a