Dawes continued to stare in a satirical fashion at the picture over the mantelpiece.
“That’s how women are with me,” said Paul. “They want me like mad, but they don’t want to belong to me. And she BELONGED to you all the time. I knew.”
The triumphant male came up in Dawes. He showed his teeth more distinctly.
“Perhaps I was a fool,” he said.
“You were a big fool,” said Morel.
“But perhaps even THEN you were a bigger fool,”said Dawes.
There was a touch of triumph and malice in it.