“Tell me,” said the woman, “are you very much in love with him?”
“Why should I tell you?”
“Because, if not—if you have merely accepted him thinking him a good catch—which he isn’t, my dear; hasn’t a penny to bless himself with, and never will if he marries you—why, then the matter is soon settled. They tell me you are a business-like young lady, and I am prepared to make a business-like proposition.”
There was no answer. The woman shrugged her shoulders.
“If, on the other hand, you are that absurd creature, a young girl in love—why, then, I suppose we shall have to fight for him.”
“It would be more sporting, would it not?” suggested Tommy.
“Let me explain before you decide,” continued the woman. “Dick Danvers left me six months ago, and has kept from me ever since, because he loved me.”
“It sounds a curious reason.”
“I was a married woman when Dick Danvers and I first met. Since he left me—for my sake and his own—I have received information of my husband’s death.”
“And does Dick—does he know?” asked the girl.