"She was rather too fond of telling people that
her husband wasn't quite kind to her."
"I think that was very natural of her!" exclaimed Jack, and Radmore felt
a surge of pity for the young fellow. Still he forced himself to go on:
"It's no use pretending. She was--and still is--a tremendous flirt."
Jack made a restless movement.
"I'm afraid you think me rather a cad for saying that, and I wouldn't say
it to anyone but you. She was bred in a bad school--brought up, so I
understood from a man who had known her as a girl, in Southsea, by a
widowed mother as pretty as herself. Her first husband--"
"But--but surely Colonel Crofton was her first husband?"
"No," again Radmore avoided looking at his companion, "she's been married
twice. Her first husband, a good-looking young chap in the 11th Hussars,
died quite soon after the marriage, the two of them having 'blued' all
they had between them. I suppose she foolishly thought there was nothing
left for it but for her to marry Colonel Crofton. And the real trouble
was that Colonel Crofton was poor. I fancy they'd have got on perfectly
well if he had had pots of money."
"I--I don't agree to that," Jack said hotly.
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