She looked steadily at him, with her head too confused and aching for any definite emotion—for the moment—and then, very slowly, she gave him a tenderly rebuking smile. Somehow, she knew that he had left her in peace while she had slept at his place, and funny, this time she would not have minded an opposite gesture. Things never seemed to intrude upon you unless you were seeking to avoid them! Yet, she was touched by this proof that he had not been hiding a mere, ordinary lust for her. Sweet, sweet boy ... how her head swayed and throbbed, and yet, despite the pain, a happiness tried to lessen it.
“You really shouldn’t have brought me here,” she said at last. “My folks’ll raise the dickens with me now. Their system is wink your eye at daughter ’f she gets back any time before 6 A. M., and call her a bad woman ’f she doesn’t. Still, you’d have been in for it ’f you had brought me back, I guess. There wasn’t much choice in the matter.”
“Why don’t you leave that dirty den of yours?” he asked. “You can’t go on sacrificing yourself forever.”
“Oh, I’m going to leave pretty soon,” she answered. “I’d have done it long ago, only I didn’t see much difference between living home and staying in some spotty hall-bedroom, and I’ve never had money enough for more than that. Maybe I can get a fairly decent place in the Village, though. Margaret tells me that rents are much cheaper down there.”
“Yes, you’d better look around,” he said, dully.
He couldn’t ask her to live with him, or to marry him—especially the latter—without telling the secret to her, and once more his courage failed him. While she was bathing and making her toilette, he fixed a simple breakfast in the kitchenette. Afterwards, as they were lolling over the coffee, he said: “You’re looking beautiful this morning. Your face is like ... well, like a wild rose and a breeze flirting with each other.”
“I’m only too willing to believe you, Eric,” she answered, softly. “Don’t make me conceited now.”
An irresistible impulse came to him. He arose, walked around the table, and bent down to her. She curved her arms about his shoulders, and they traded a lengthy kiss.
“I’m in love with you, Blanche,” he said, looking away, after he had straightened up.
She grasped one of his hands and answered: “Why, you’re startling me, Eric—I’d never have guessed it. Would it surprise, you, too, ’f I said I loved you?”