“Luncheon was served early. The train for New York left at three p.m. I would have time to send a cablegram to Mr. Penway, buy a few little trifles and then as fast as steam could carry me I would go from the gulf which seemed about to swallow me.
“I had just left the dining room, as the bell rang. The butler announced a gentleman. I felt a pallor spread from my face to my neck; my breast felt clammy; the flesh on my arms seemed to crawl; my usually plump hand looked pale and thin, as I tremblingly took the card. My voice frightened me as I said ‘Not in’ to the waiting statue of ebony, at the same time tossing the little card onto a table without looking at it. It went short of the mark and as it fluttered to the floor turned over, my eyes were fastened on the name, ‘Landrie Grayson.’
“Fever drove away the chill which had almost overcome me. No, no! I could not do it! It was just as impossible for me to turn Lannie away then as it is now to bring him back. With a bound, I was in the hall; the next leap put me alongside the stately, marching figure in livery; a dash and I was pulling and tugging at the great door, then I looked into those honest eyes of blue.
“‘I thought I would call on you, Ailene,’ said Lannie, as we entered the drawing room.
“‘Yes, Lannie, it was so good of you to come; and now, Lannie, you must be hungry. It is high noon, as you used to say,’ and without further ado I rang and ordered dinner served at once, for I knew that the people at home always had twelve o’clock dinner. That dinner was the best I ever tasted in my life. How I changed in a few moments from a dull, heavy hearted creature of nervous misery, back to the old happy stage of girlhood. We had dinner, and I did not send my baggage away.
“When Lannie explained to me that he was stopping at a hotel, I said: ‘Lannie, you cannot stay at a hotel in Chicago; you must make this your home.’
“‘No, Ailene, I will be busy, and could not think of putting you to any inconvenience.’
“‘But, Lannie, please do stay here. I am⸺’ I did not finish my sentence. I don’t think Lannie knew what I was about to utter. If he did know that I was on the point of telling him that I was alone, he paid no attention to it. Again that nightmare overcame me; I was speechless. Lannie thought I was hurt or offended because he refused my hospitality.
“‘I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Ailene,’ he said. ‘We will go to some theater tonight. I will spend tomorrow evening here with you and then we will plan for the other days that I am to remain in the city.’