CHAPTER IV.
MARION MEETS WITH AN ACCIDENT.
Dollie Marlowe gasped at her sister’s words, and for a moment even the wily old lawyer looked a little disconcerted.
“I am sure I hope you do not think ill of me,” he said, politely. “I was only taking your sister for a little outing. She is as safe with me as she would be with her own father.”
“Nevertheless you have not considered the risk to her reputation,” said Marion, calmly. “Dollie is your typewriter; she is in your employ. It is not proper at all for you to make a companion of her.”
“But if I choose to, Miss Marlowe, surely there can be no harm. And as for the opinion of the world, what does that amount to?”
“It amounts to a great deal to a poor girl,” was the quick answer. “A man may shock the proprieties all he pleases, but the woman who does so will always have to suffer. We must take the world as we find it, sir, and conform to its edicts.”
“Then you think it is wrong for your sister to eat her lunch with me?” he asked, with a slight sneer. “Perhaps you imagine that her employer is not respectable?”
“I mean, sir,” said the brave girl, firmly, “that I love my sister dearly, and that I will not knowingly allow her fair name to be sullied. She is engaged to be married, sir, to a noble young man. What do you suppose he would say to your remarks about the luncheon?”