Bonnie May was alarmed; she quite lost control of herself. “Stop your kiddin’!” she said with a catch in her voice. She tried to say it playfully, but her self-possession was gone. Her remark had sounded simply offensive, indelicate.
“And I can’t permit you to use such language, either!” declared Mrs. Baron.
The dismayed guest pressed her hands to her eyes as if she were trying to think clearly.
Then she made a rush for the stairway!
Mrs. Baron put dignity aside long enough to pursue her, to seize her by the arm. She was becoming outraged, greatly indignant. “What do you mean to do?” she demanded, her voice trembling slightly.
“I’m quitting.”
“You’re——”
“I won’t stay here!”
The distressed old gentlewoman tried to calm herself. “Where do you think of going?” she asked.
“Anywhere—to the theatres. Any company in town will be glad to have me. They will know who I am. They—they are the kind of people who will appreciate me!” The words were spoken in a tone of heart-break, of despair.