“Harsh? No woman trifles with the man she loves.”
“Yes, dear; sometimes in mere thoughtlessness.”
“But when her fault has been more than once pointed out?”
“Perhaps you have not done it with sufficient gentleness. We are sometimes haughty in our demands without knowing it.”
“You are kind—very kind, mother. All this would console me if I did not know how resolutely Ellen has persisted in disregarding my wishes—if I did not know that she has attempted to conceal her intimacy with this man from me.”
“Is this really so, Claude?”
“Would I make the charge if it were not true?”
“Miss Worthington!”
In their excitement, the mother and son had not heard the colored waiter, and his voice startled them when he announced the very person they were talking of.
“Show her in here,” said the mother, seating herself, and again pressing a hand to her side.