"I—I—" she hesitated.
"Let me know the worst."
"I don't know," she faltered ruefully.
His face brightened.
"I'm going to ask you something," he said earnestly.
Mavis was filled with a great apprehension.
"If I weren't a bad egg, and could offer you a home worthy of you, I wonder if you'd care to marry me?"
An exclamation of astonishment escaped her.
"I mean it," he continued, "and why not? You're true-hearted and straight and wonderful to look at. Little Mavis is a pearl above price, and she doesn't know it."
"Ssh! ssh!" she murmured.