She turned to Stevens with a flash of her old positiveness.
"I must go somewhere else. And I don't feel like telling my troubles to any friend to-night. So will you take me to a hotel?"
They returned to the car line by an unusual street, lest Al should come looking after her, she driving her sick frame along by sheer will, her lover resolved that if need be he would save her from herself.
She waited while he engaged her room, and when he came bringing her key, he said, "I have put you down as Miss Talbot."
"Oh, you were nice to think of that. I like to imagine sometimes it still is so." She took his hand. "Good night, dear," she whispered. "I will be a true wife to you."
XV
MR. SILVERMAN
Stevens called up Georgia's room in the morning to ask how she had slept and she reported, "Well—that is, pretty well," which wasn't true, for she had tossed wretchedly through the night. By careful brushing and buying a shirtwaist she managed to measurably freshen her appearance, though she reached the office with tired eyes and hectic splotches beneath her eyes. Al was there before her waiting with white face.
"Georgia," he began miserably, "I've been hunting the town for you. Where have you been?"
"Alone."