“I’m glad to see you, Morris,” she frankly said—she had always called him by his first name. “I’ve gotten into deep waters since I sent you away so foolishly. I would have sent for you, but I was afraid you were angry and would not come. I’ve had about as many humiliations as I can bear for awhile.”
He looked at her reproachfully.
“You did treat me shamefully, Ruth, after years of faithful service. I don’t know why. I might guess if I tried. When I saw that pitiful card this morning, I knew what it meant. So I’ve come back to take charge of your business. And you can’t run me away with a stick. I am going to look after your property and make it earn you a living.”
“It is very good of you, and I am grateful,” she replied, gently.
“How much are your stocks worth?”
“About forty thousand dollars, I’m told. But I can’t sell them. They are not listed on the Exchange.”
“I’ll sell them for you, and by the end of the week have your money paying you an income of two hundred dollars a month. Send those two children home. You were not made for a school-teacher.”
He looked at her with intensity, and she lowered her eyes in embarrassment.
He sprang to his feet and walked swiftly to the window, and then came back and sat down beside her.
“Ruth,” he said, impulsively, “it’s no use in my trying to lie to you. We might as well understand one another at once. Of course, I know why you sent me away.”