"And he was content to leave things so?"
Pattie put her work down, and once more looked up into Cragg's face.
"Would you have been content in his place—about a child of your own?"
Cragg was puzzled how to answer. He could not make out Pattie, and he found himself saying involuntarily:
"I wonder whether you are older than I have fancied?"
"I was sixteen on my last birthday."
"You were! Really! I have thought of you as only—well, about thirteen."
"No; I am sixteen. People have often taken me for less. Old enough to be independent." And a curious smile flickered over her small face.
"We must see about that. I am not sure. You would not find it so easy as you may think to make your way—unaided."
"No. But people would help me. People are always so kind."