With a look of girlish tenderness she hastened to say:
"I want to thank you with the deepest gratitude, major, for your kindness in inviting me here this summer——"
"Don't mention it, child," he interrupted frowning.
"Oh, if you only knew," she went on hurriedly, "how I love the South, how my soul glows under its skies, how I love its people, their old-fashioned ways, their kindness, their hospitality, their high ideals——"
He lifted his hand and the gesture stopped her in the midst of a sentence. He was evidently struggling with an embarrassment that was painful and had determined to end it.
"The time has come, Helen," he began firmly—"you're of age—that I should tell you the important facts about your birth."
"Yes—yes——" the girl answered in an excited whisper as she sank into a chair and gazed at him fascinated with the terror of his possible revelation.
"I wish I could tell you all," he said, pausing painfully.
"You know—all?"
"Yes, I know."