She slipped on to the floor, buried her face in Betty’s lap, and sobbed miserably.
Betty stayed with her until far into the night—until the heart-rent girl slept peacefully upon the white bed.
She covered the poor sleeping soul with her meagre blankets....
As she rose to leave, her glance fell on a new book which lay beside the lamp. It was a volume of erotic verse. She opened it and found an inscription on the fly-leaf from Aubrey.
Betty sighed—put the lamp low—and slipped on tip-toe from the room.
******
In the dusk that held the city the next evening, Betty tapped at Moll’s door; and she thought she heard a sob for answer.... She listened awhile; but all was still. She rattled at the door and called. Only silence.
Slowly she descended the stairs again.
At the bottom she came upon Madelaine, lean and cheery. There was some talk.
She was just about to leave the girl when a man entered from out the dusk of the court, passed them, and began to ascend the stair.