Daisy’s hand trembled as she made the connection. She hated herself for listening in. Yet from morbid fascination she did it.
“Darling!� was Karl’s remorsefully passionate greeting as Madeline answered the phone-bell’s summons. “I’m so sorry! So horribly sorry! I spoke rottenly to you yesterday. Wont you forgive me? Please do!�
“Please don’t let us speak about it,� began Madeline stiffly.
Then her shell of offendedness collapsed, and she went on with a break in her sweet voice.
“Oh, I’m so glad you called up! I was so afraid you wouldn’t. And I was going to try so hard not to phone to you. But I knew I’d do it—I knew I would—if you didn’t call me first. I’ve been terribly unhappy, dear.â€�
“You’ve had nothing on me, in that,� he made answer. “I haven’t slept all night, thinking how I spoke to you. It was our first quarrel. And it was all my fault.�
“It wasn’t,â€� she contradicted chokily. “It was all mine. I shouldn’t have been hurt by what you said about my forgetting so often that—â€�
“Don’t, dear,� he begged. “Don’t! It was a rotten thing for me to say.�
“It was—it was true,â€� she replied, her voice quavering as she fought back the tears. “But you told me yourself that you don’t blame me. You know what my life with him has been, from the very beginning. And till I met you I used to wish I were dead. Oh, you can’t blame me for forgetting him, for—for you!â€�
“You’re an angel!â€� he declared. “I’m not fit to touch your hand. But my love for you is the only thing there is in my life. And it’s brought me the only happiness I ever knew. I used to think I’d like to kill myself if it weren’t for my mother. And now you’ve given me something—everything—to live for. I love you so, Madeline! Are you sure you’ve forgiven me?â€�