"Oh, Gerald, don't talk about that. You know that is all over and done with now."
"It is not over, Hilda—it never has been over, we need never have parted but for you. For these two years I have been longing for a chance of seeing you alone. I have got it now, and I'm not going to lose it."
"What is it you want? You forget Miriam——"
"Oh, hang Miriam! I wish I could forget her. But she's not the sort of person one can forget, worse luck. Hilda, it was cruel of you to drive me to her——"
"Cruel of me? I drove you to Miriam? Really, Gerald, if that's the kind of thing you're going to say, I am sorry I allowed you to come at all. You know perfectly well things were not in my hands. I had to do as I was told. And you—well, you and Miriam were always what you call 'good friends.'"
"You managed to console yourself pretty quickly any way."
"Not so quickly as you, I believe," retorted Hilda.
"I console myself? A pretty sort of consolation mine has been! You at least have the satisfaction of having plenty of money. If it were only the other way round, I tell you, Hilda, I wouldn't hesitate for one moment; I'd clear out with you to-morrow."
"Indeed, that's taking me a little bit for granted, isn't it? You don't seem to count the cost—to me! Remember, the unfortunate woman always pays in these cases, as indeed she does in most others, as far as I can see. No, Gerald, you've got to stick to your bargain and I to mine. I was always fond of you, you know. But Fate evidently didn't intend us for one another."
"If only I thought you really cared for me still—Hilda, tell me you do; say you do care for me now as you used to do."