“There’s nothing more.”
“I mean, about yourself ... this thing ... this....” Clem Spender’s voice was still in her ears. “You loved some one,” she breathed.
“Yes. That’s over—. Now it’s only the child.... And I could love Joe—in another way.” Chatty Lovell straightened herself, wan and frowning.
“I need the money—I must have it for my baby. Or else they’ll send it to an Institution.” She paused. “But that’s not all. I want to marry—to be a wife, like all of you. I should have loved Joe’s children—our children. Life doesn’t stop....”
“No; I suppose not. But you speak as if ... as if ... the person who took advantage of you....”
“No one took advantage of me. I was lonely and unhappy. I met some one who was lonely and unhappy. People don’t all have your luck. We were both too poor to marry each other ... and mother would never have consented. And so one day ... one day before he said goodbye....”
“He said goodbye?”
“Yes. He was going to leave the country.”
“He left the country—knowing?”
“How was he to know? He doesn’t live here. He’d just come back—come back to see his family—for a few weeks....”