"
"It may be so," she responded vacantly, in the confusion of adjusting
her vision of life to this new and blinding light....
"Tell me," he suggested presently, stammering--"if you don't mind
giving me more of your confidence--to which I don't pretend to have
any right--only my interest in--in you--the mystery with which you
surround yourself--living alone there in that wretched boarding-house--"
He broke off with a brief uneasy laugh: "I don't seem to get
anywhere.... My fear lest you think me presumptuous--"
"Don't fear that for another instant--please!" she begged earnestly;
and swinging to face him again, gave him an impulsive hand. "I'm so
grateful to you for--for what you've saved me from--"
"Then..." Self-distrustful, he retained her fingers only transiently.
"Then why not tell me--everything. If I understood, I might be able to
offer some suggestions--to save you further distress--"
"Oh, no; you can't do that," she interrupted. "If what you've said is
true, I--I shall simply continue to live by myself."
"You don't mean you would go back to Thirty-eighth Street?"
"No," she said thoughtfully, "I'm--I don't mean that."
"You're right," he assured her. "It's no place for you."
"That wasn't meant to be permanent," she explained--"merely an
experiment. I went there for two reasons: to be rid for a while of
their incessant attempts to hasten my marriage with Bayard; and
because I suddenly realised I knew nothing about my father's estate,
and found I was to know nothing for another year--that is, until,
under his will, I come into my fortune.
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