Then Gibson turned toward Consuello. She had bowed her head in her hand. He hesitated a moment and then walked slowly to the side of her chair.
"Good-by, Conny," he said.
She looked up at him, tears brimming in her eyes, her under lip caught between her teeth. He tried to force a smile to his lips, but it balked.
"Good-by," she said, and her voice trembled.
He turned away quickly, as if he felt he could not trust himself to be at her side a second longer. He stopped again, facing John.
"Just one thing more, Gallant," he said.
"Yes," said John, his voice queerly out of pitch.
Gibson looked him straight in the eyes.
"You love her, don't you?" he asked.
Unable to speak what was in his heart, John stood silent. He moistened his lips with his tongue and wondered why it was he could not shout back his answer. Flustered by the boldness of the question put to him so directly, a thought flashed into his mind of Betty's frank declaration that she knew he loved Consuello. Then he discovered the reason why his mother had been so perturbed by his frequent meetings with her. She, too, undoubtedly knew he was in love!