Mildred had chosen to rest for a few moments, so that Dick and Nona were alone. Not that Mildred's presence would have interfered; this was simply an accident.
Dick listened with unusual gravity to Nona's history. Perhaps it struck him as even queerer than it did the girl herself. She had always been accustomed to the mystery. Really, the entire story sounded like a fabrication. Mysteries were out of fashion in these modern days in the United States. Although, of course, there was nothing too mad or too inconceivable that was not taking place in Europe at the present time.
Nothing was more antagonistic to Dick Thornton's nature than concealment of any kind. Yet he felt profoundly touched by Nona's confession. The girl herself was so attractive! She was still wearing the black silk dress and hat she had bought in Paris the autumn before. Her face had flushed, partly from embarrassment and partly from the emotion she always felt at any mention of her mother.
Her eyes were luminous and brown and her features as exquisitely carved as a Greek statue's.
Dick also had no other idea except that Nona's mother must have been a woman of grace and breeding. The daughter was entirely aristocratic to the tips of her slender fingers. For half a moment Dick thought of suggesting that he or Mildred write to their own mother for advice. In reality Mrs. Thornton would have enjoyed tremendously the unveiling of an agreeable mystery. But only if she should discover in the end that Nona was the heir to a fortune or a great name. If the conclusion of the mystery were disagreeable Mrs. Thornton would be profoundly bored.
Therefore he naturally hesitated. "I don't know exactly what to advise, Nona," he confessed, since they were by this time calling each other by their first names. "The sensible thing is to write to your lawyer and demand to be told all that can be found out. If there are any letters or papers, you must be twenty-one, so they are legally yours. Then perhaps with something to go on, you can find out the truth later for yourself. Only please don't consider my advice too seriously."
Here Dick's manner and voice both changed. He had grown accustomed to relying upon his own strength and decision in the past year. Yet every once in a while he remembered that not many months before he had seldom given a serious thought to any subject except deciding what girl he should invite to the theater or a dance.
"It was awfully kind of you to have thought my judgment worth while," he concluded. Then his sudden turning of the subject of conversation surprised Nona.
"I have a secret of my own which I may some day tell you, because I hope to have the benefit of your advice," he added. "At present I am not sure whether it would be wise to speak of it. For so far there is nothing to be done with my secret but smile and bear it like a man."
Then Dick smiled. "Do you know, I have been thinking lately that perhaps it is the women who smile and bear their burdens. A man is rather apt to want to make a noise when he is hurt."