She was silent; her eyes met his bravely enough, yet it seemed as if she had no control upon her lips, the word would not come. Once before she had lied to him, and knew that she could not lie again, not with his eyes looking deep into hers, probing the very secrets of her soul.
“Joan, do you love me? My Joan, do you love me?” And then the answer came at last—“Yes.”
CHAPTER XLIII
“NOT TILL THEN WILL I GIVE UP HOPE”
“There is nothing wrong, nothing the matter with Johnny or Connie?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why—why did not Johnny come?”
“He is busy.”
“But you—”
“I came to see Joan Meredyth,” said Ellice quietly. She and Helen did not like one another; they were both frank in their dislike. Helen looked down on Ellice as a person of no importance, who was entirely unwanted, a mere nuisance, someone for ever in the way.