He reached out a hand and touched hers where it lay on the table.... He had said that he should touch it—some time. He stroked it a minute and she went on.
“Then I came here—” She made a little gesture. “I didn’t know what it was like—I didn’t even know there was a place like this.” She glanced around the alcove that sheltered them—with its folds of green curtain—“But as soon as I came, I knew I should come again. I knew it would take care of me—the way Tom wanted for me. So I spent the money.” She lifted the little linked purse from the table—she laughed. “Only fifty cents left—You ’re here just in time!”
Eldridge held out his hand. “Give it to me.”
She looked at him.
“I want it—yes. Aren’t you willing to give me fifty cents—of your five hundred?”
She handed it to him with a little sigh of relief.
He took it and balanced it thoughtfully in his hand—“Why did you come to-day?” he asked.
“This is my anniversary day.”
“To-day?”
She nodded—as if she saw a vision. “It is a year to-day that I came here—the first time.”