She smiled sadly.
"Yes. I've been here some time, ever since—" She stopped short, not knowing how much he might know of her difference with her husband. As yet the world knew nothing of the scandal that had shattered a home and as far as she was concerned it never would. After a pause she added timidly: "You see I am not rich—I have to support myself."
Hadley leaned forward and sympathetically grasped her hand. He had always liked Virginia. Her womanliness and spirit appealed strongly to him. Stafford had treated her like a brute. He ought never to have let her go. Many a time he had berated his friend for what he termed his pigheaded obstinacy.
"Oh, Mrs. Stafford!" he went on warmly. "I had no idea you were here. How noble and plucky it is of you—"
"Any self-respecting woman would do the same," she said quietly.
Hadley shrugged his shoulders. Cynically he replied:
"Some might, most wouldn't. You don't find women in our set making sacrifices even for a principle when it comes to giving up their comforts and their luxuries. I think you've acted splendidly and so does Bob, only he won't admit it. He's a good fellow at heart. The trouble was that he married too late in life. His habits were formed. He did not realize that to be happy in married life one must give as well as take; in other words, that a really happy marriage is a compromise. Always having had his own way, accustomed to imposing his will upon that of others, he failed to realize that when he married he conferred certain rights on the woman to whom he gave his name. Now it is different. He sees his mistake. It has been a bitter lesson to him."
A deep flush spread over Virginia's pale face. What did these words mean? Could it be true that her husband still loved her?
"You see him sometimes?" she murmured.
"Almost every day. I dined with him at the club last night."