"I forgot all about it."
Like Gay under similar circumstances, she was infuriated by the combined flimsiness and sincerity of the plea. But, unlike Gay, she was too clever to give herself away and ruin her plans by an outburst of indignation. She only fixed her sad and lovely dark eyes on his and said quietly:
"Is that all you have to say to me, Lundi? With everyone laughing at my humiliation and disappointment—my foolishness!"
He flushed at the use of his name, the tone of her voice, the inference in her words.
"I am most frightfully sorry," he repeated, deeply embarrassed. "It was unutterably caddish of me. I can never forgive myself, or expect you to forgive me."
"I think you know by now that I can forgive you anything," she answered, in a low voice.
His embarrassment increased.
"I'm not worth a second thought from any woman," he asseverated firmly.
"But if I think you are?" There was a little break in her voice, and suddenly she put out her hands toward him. "If I cannot help——"
"Mrs. Hading," he interposed hastily, "you don't know what you are saying. I am a blackguard—a scamp, unfit to touch a woman's hand."