"Because I will not have you ruined with your fiancée," was her calm answer.
"My dear girl, I have no fiancée. That's all over."
"Oh, no, it isn't."
"Oh, yes, it is."
She freed the hand he had been holding and then slipped it into his again. Then they walked on.
"Love's never over," she observed wisely. "You'll only care the more for her later." Then she raised her eyes and beheld him deeply crimson.
"With me it's all over," he declared in a voice that shook with mingled feelings. "You don't know of what you speak. It couldn't possibly be made up. I couldn't marry her. I couldn't possibly live in the house with—with—" He stopped short.
"It will straighten out," said Nina calmly. "Such things do, you know."
"Not this kind. Wait—look!" He opened his coat, thrust his hand within, and drew a jewel from some hidden pocket. It was a ring which he held out to her.
She took it from him, and her eyes opened very wide. For a brief space she gazed at him pensively and silently.