"People around here think I've got a rich old lover," she said.
He felt a sinking at his heart. This had been his sudden fear. And she took the shame in such a matter-of-fact way!
"I let 'em think so, for that explains everything to them. But they're wrong." The queer smile broadened. "What do you think?"
"I could never guess," said David.
She leaned forward, and her voice lowered to a whisper. "You and me—we're in the same trade."
"What! You're a——" He hesitated.
"That's it," she said. "A nurse girl or a maid in a rich house sees a lot of things lying around. Or, if she wants to, she can stay for two or three weeks or a month, learn where the valuables are kept, make a plan of the house, get hold of keys. Then she gets a pal, and they clean the place out. That's me."
There was a glow of excitement in her eyes, and pride, and a triumphant sense of having startled him. For the moment he merely stared at her, could make no response.
"There, we know each other now," she said, and took several puffs at her cigarette. "But ain't you tired of the honesty life at five per?"
"No."