“What a brute I am!” he thought as he sat down again.
Several minutes passed. He could hear the sound of subdued voices within, and then a door was opened and closed. A moment later Totty came out and looked about. She was dazzled by the light and could not see him. He rose and went forward.
“Here I am,” he said.
She laid her hand upon his arm and looked at his face as she spoke, very gently.
“George, dear—things cannot go on like this,” she said.
“You are quite right, Totty,” he answered. “I will go away to-morrow.”
“Sit down,” said Totty. “Have you got one of those cigars? Light it. I want to have a long talk with you.”
Totty Trimm had determined to bring matters to a crisis.
CHAPTER XXII.
George felt that his heart was beating faster as he prepared to hear what Totty had to say. He knew that the moment had come for making a decision of some sort, and he was annoyed that it should be thrust upon him, especially by Totty Trimm. He could not be sure of what she was about to say, but he supposed that it was her intention to deliver him a lecture upon his conduct towards Mamie, and to request him to make it clear to the girl, either by words or by an immediate departure, that he could never love her and much less marry her, considering his relatively impecunious position. It struck him that many women would have spoken in a more severe tone of voice than his cousin used, but this he attributed to her native good humour as much as to her tact. He drew his chair nearer to hers, nearer than it had been to Mamie’s, and prepared to listen.