"Oh, Ruth! Why you—oh—don't say that!"
Calmly, but with an obvious effort at self control she answered:
"Do you think there is no gossip in Longfields, no comment on my unexpected arrival? Do you think an unmarried woman can travel about the world alone with a young man as I did, and keep her good name?"
"I never thought of it—in that way. On my honor—I did not."
"Do you know of any other respectable young woman of your acquaintance who has done anything like it?"
"But it was all my doing. You couldn't help it. Don't they all know that?"
"No. Why should they know it? Will they believe that you, whom they have known from boyhood, whom they respect and like, would carry me off by force, entirely against my will?" Then with a bitter little laugh: "Oh, no! They are not so simple! And some woman has started a story that we——" Her face became crimson and she covered it for a moment with her hands—"Oh, I can't bear to think of it."
Cyrus closed his eyes. His head drooped. "I never thought of all that. I was stupid. I can see it now. I don't blame you for hating me."
Ruth went on, speaking with nervous haste. "A pleasanter bit of scandal never happened in this village. I could not bear to live here. It would kill me to live here."
"You are not going away!"