“Personally,” added Peter, “I like the fellow.” Tommy had returned to her work.
Of what use was Peter in a crisis of this kind? Peter couldn’t scold. Peter couldn’t bully. The only person to talk to Tommy as Tommy knew she needed to be talked to was one Jane, a young woman of dignity with sense of the proprieties.
“I do hope that at least you are feeling ashamed of yourself,” remarked Jane to Tommy that same night, as the twain sat together in their little bedroom.
“Done nothing to be ashamed of,” growled Tommy.
“Making a fool of yourself openly, for everybody to notice.”
“Clodd ain’t everybody. He’s got eyes at the back of his head. Sees things before they happen.”
“Where’s your woman’s pride: falling in love with a man who has never spoken to you, except in terms of the most ordinary courtesy.”
“I’m not in love with him.”
“A man about whom you know absolutely nothing.”
“Not in love with him.”