“Not now!” he said vehemently. “It was cruel of you to do this. Why didn’t you tell me before that you weren’t free? Why did you let me go on? I trusted you so! And all this time you’ve been thinking of him! No, please don’t speak to me! Let me go!”
She was looking at him with a curious sort of inquiry, her dark brows drawn together in a faint frown.
“You don’t understand,” she said. “I thought you had guessed long ago. I didn’t think you’d have—gone on like this, if you hadn’t guessed!”
She was not by nature impulsive, but it was impulse alone that moved her now. She came nearer to him, laid her hand on his shoulder, and looked into his face, with bright tears in her eyes.
“Oh, Alan!” she cried. “It was a beautiful thing to do—to accept me on faith, like that! Not to know, or to care! Oh, Alan, my dear!”
“Judith!” he said. “Don’t you see what you’ve done? Nothing else could have mattered to me, except your caring for him—”
“For Noel?” she asked. “I’m afraid I cared for him a little too much—more than was good for him. But, you see, he’s my only brother.”
“Brother!” shouted Alan. “Then why—”
“Walk home with me, and I’ll explain,” said she. “I thought you had found out long ago.”
Alan went on by her side, willing to wait forever for any further explanation. There[Pg 119] were a few questions he wanted to ask, and Judith answered them to his satisfaction, but they had nothing to do with Noel.