She looked very young in her green linen dress which revealed her firm, satin-like arms; fundamentally, under that mask of worldly sophistication, how very natural she was! It was no more than normal that she wanted to succeed, to be seen, to dress well, to have fun; and she had the great merit of truthfully admitting her desires without worrying about whether they were noble or sordid. Even when she lied, she was more truthful than Paula, who never lied; there was a strong touch of hypocrisy in that code of the sublime Paula had developed. Henri pictured the haughty mask she'd have put on in face of all that easy luxury, and Dubreuilh's astonished smile, Anne's shocked expression. When those pictures and that interview appeared in print, they would all shake their heads in dismay.

'It's true that we all have a little bit of the puritan in us,' he thought. 'Myself included. Because we hate it when our privileges are thrust in our faces.' He wanted to avoid that luncheon so that he wouldn't have to admit to himself that he couldn't afford it. 'And yet when I'm at the Bar Rouge with the boys, I never count what I throw away in a single night.'