He was a bit harsh at times; but a man like her Pa, or like Jimmy, was much better than her loafer of a tramp cyclist!
“And ... Ma?” asked Lily.
“Your Ma,” said Jimmy, in a lower voice, “cried ... oh, how she cried when she found that you had gone! No doubt, she exaggerated any wrong she had done you. It seems she fell upon her knees and prayed and asked for forgiveness.”
“Forgiveness? What for? Of whom?” Lily inquired.
“Why,” said Jimmy, in a serious tone, “of whom do you think people ask forgiveness, when they are alone, on their knees?”
“Oh,” said Lily, greatly touched, “I understand! So they didn’t put the blame on me?”
“What blame?”
“For my marriage,” said Lily, lowering her eyes.
“No ... if you had gone off to live with him ... oh, not you, not you, I know!” protested Jimmy, seeing a gesture of Lily’s. “But marriage is different, I suppose. You had the right, you were old enough to go away with the man you loved.”
Jimmy turned pale as he said this; but Lily, hanging her head and red with shame, did not notice it.