Nell moved restlessly, and looked anxious.
“When will that be?” she asked, shrugging her shoulders. “I might stay here forever if I waited for that!”
Clifford leaned on his elbow and stared at her.
“Nell, do you want them to find it out?” he asked, curiously.
She hesitated. Then, raising her head quickly, she hissed out in a low voice:
“No. I can’t tell you why; I won’t tell you why; but—no, no, no!”
Then she looked at him, her blue eyes filled with imploring tears.
He held out his arms.
“Never mind, Nell. Whatever you tell me, or whatever you choose not to tell, I love you and I trust you just the same.”
“Now,” she whispered, with a sudden change from her rather hard, defiant tone to one full of gentleness and gratitude, “I don’t care what they believe, or what they do to me.”