"He's a contemptible thing!"
"Not Cyrus?"
"Yes, Cyrus. And what a fool! Oh, what a fool!"
Into Joanna's placid, serious face came a look of amazement.
"You don't mean to say, Miss Ruth, that, Cyrus—is a—contemptible—thing and—and a fool!"
"That's just exactly what I mean. He's a fool—a contemptible, weak, half-hearted, easily discouraged, stupid fool!"
Ruth was clearly excited. She spoke rapidly and with vehemence, marching to and fro as if lashed to fury by some strange obsession. As Joanna watched the little figure she could hardly believe that this was the ever gentle Ruth Heywood of her acquaintance.
Ruth went on: "Not a speck of perseverance! And what a coward! I never suspected he was such a hopeless coward!"
"Cyrus a coward! Oh, but—Miss Ruth, you really——"