“Died!” she repeated. “I didn’t know!”
He saw that there was something in this unknown to him. He kept silent.
“And then she married you. Soon after, I suppose?”
“I don’t know,” he had to answer. “I never asked her.”
She looked squarely into Mr. Petersen’s eyes.
“I was engaged to him once,” she said, “until Minnie took him away from me.”
She was still for a moment.
“I ought not to talk like this to you,” she went on. “It’s not fair. Only ... I thought I’d got over it ... and all the time, it ... was there. I ... feel so—cheated!”
Her fine mouth quivered.
Mr. Petersen rose.