“It’s mighty decent of you, boy,” Max said. “But I couldn’t accept it.”
“You don’t need to feel that way.”
“But I do nevertheless. No, I couldn’t. That’s all.”
“Will you promise to let me know if you need it, later?”
“Look here,” said Lee, settling back in his chair wearily. “I mentioned money only to dismiss the topic. I have no desire for wealth, and it’s not immediate needs I’m thinking of. But here I am, fagged, at the start of my last year. When I get my M.D. I’ll be as far from making money as I am now. It’s getting to be an up-hill game, you see? There are certain things that a fellow wants to do some time before he dies, and getting married is one of them.”
“Yes,” said Mauney; “I suppose that comes into the scheme of things.”
“The scheme of nothing!” scoffed Lee. “It simply gets into your blood when you meet the right woman.”
“Am I to suppose,” asked Mauney, in a teasing tone, “that you have met her?”
Lee was silent. His dark eyes were seriously looking into space, while his cigarette burned slowly between his fingers. Mauney realized that he had trampled carelessly on holy ground, but allowed his own silence to be his only apology.