Immediately, with artless tact, Mrs. Van Brink closed the door. Tommy sprang up and caught Esther in his arms.
“My!” she cried, laughing. “Aren’t you in a hurry, though?”
Tommy reddened, painfully aware of his disadvantage.
“I don’t know what you’ll do to-morrow evening,” Esther went on. “Will Egbert’s coming to see me.”
Tommy could scarcely grasp the idea. An evening without Esther! Another man! He was silent for some time. He realized then that he would rather marry Esther than lose her, than be supplanted by any Will Egbert.
“Look here, Esther!” he said at last. “I know I haven’t any right to complain. I’m not—anything to you; but I’d like you to know something. Before I came here, my uncle—”
He paused so long that Esther frowned.
“Yes?” she said. “What about your uncle, Tommy?”
“He warned me—told me I couldn’t get engaged, or anything of that sort. You understand, don’t you, Esther? You see,[Pg 36] I haven’t any income. I depend on him, and I know, very well, that he’d never consent to—to anything.”
She didn’t answer.