Surprise, pain, then understanding, flashed across her face, and somehow the manager knew that he had betrayed a secret to her and that it hurt. She controlled herself quickly, and answered him.
"Yes, that was Jarvis. We were married last spring, and we both set out on a career. I kept mine a secret, and just by luck I succeeded. But Jarvis"—here her eyes filled with tears—"you've no idea how hard it is to be a playwright! Everybody thinks what a snap it is to collect royalties when you are a Broadway favourite, but they don't know all those terrible days and nights before you get there, and what it means if you never do get there."
"I know," he nodded. "So you want to give this fellow the chance to make this play?"
"I want to more than I ever wanted anything in my life."
"Well, well!" he said, in surprise at her earnestness.
"I want you to send for him, give him the commission, and never mention me."
"Why not?"
"I do not want him to know that I had anything to do with it."
"He doesn't know you wrote the book?"
"No."