She brought herself to look at him. If the past must be faced now, she would meet it like the honest girl she was. But Paul's manner was not accusing, and when he spoke again, it was of neither Stella nor herself.
"How much does Amy get a week?" he asked.
She told him, and he nodded as over a point proved.
"Would it surprise you to hear that she draws five dollars less? That does surprise you, doesn't it?"
"How do you know?"
"My drug-department patient told me long ago. I didn't think much about it at the time, for some girls dress well on mighty little; but when—well, the long and short of it is, that Wilkes woman knows Amy!"
Jean pulled herself together somehow. Amy's defense was for the moment her own.
"Need that condemn Amy?" she said.
"Of course not," returned Paul judiciously. "It might happen to you, or anybody. Perhaps she says she knows me. It's the way she came to know her that counts. The Wilkes girl got very confidential when I left her mouth free. She had tanked up with firewater for the occasion, and it oiled her tongue. I didn't pay much attention until Amy Jeffries's name slipped out, but I listened after that. I thought it was due you."
"And she said—?"