“Has the stage come?” He glanced at the clock and blinked at the girl. “Well, I guess those books had me hypnotized!”
“Small wonder,” she said, bitterly. “I tell you I'm afraid, Frank! There's something we don't see through!”
“I don't dare to waste any more time wondering what the trouble is, Vona. I must get on to the job.”
“Both of us must.”
“It's time for you to be going home.”
“I'm going to stay here.”
“But, dear girl, there's the play! You have the leading part!”
“The words will stick in my throat and tears will blind me when I think of you working here alone. Frank, I insist! I will not leave you. They must postpone the play.”
He went to her and laid her hands, one upon the other, between his caressing palms. “The folks will be there—they are expecting the play—you must not disappoint them. It's as much your duty to go to the hall as it is mine to stay here with the books. And another thing! Think of the stories that will be set going, with the bank examiner here, if it's given out that the play had to be postponed because you couldn't leave the books. Such a report might start a run on the bank. Folks would be sure to think there's trouble here. You must go, Vona. It's for the sake of both of us.”
He went and brought her coat and hat.