When she left Shipley’s at the closing hour of a day early in April she was surprised to see him waiting at the door.
“Good evening, Grace! Hope you don’t mind being held up, but I wanted to see you and this seemed the easiest way. Got time to walk home?”
Grace had meant to take the car but she decided instantly that in view of the glimpse he had got of her in Trenton’s arms on the memorable day at The Shack it would be poor diplomacy to refuse.
“Of course, I’ll walk, John,” she replied cordially. “I’ve been wanting to see you.” She waited till they were out of the crowd, then said with a preluding laugh:
“You must be thinking the awfulest things of me, and that’s why you’ve given me the go-by. That was an awful fib I told you Christmas about going to a matinee. The truth of the matter was that I had promised to go with some people into the country for the afternoon and didn’t want the family to know; and I couldn’t explain over the telephone. And out there we all got to cutting up and well—you saw me! I’m terribly ashamed of myself!”
“Oh, pshaw, you needn’t be! I didn’t think anything about it. I always know you’re all right. I’m for you, Grace—you know that. I’ve been so busy since I moved to town that I’ve kept my nose right on the grindstone.”
His words lacked the usual John Moore flavor, and in spite of his protest she guiltily attributed his unusual restraint to reservations as to the Christmas day episode. But his next speech quickly shifted the ground of her apprehensions.
“I’ve just been down to Bloomington to see Roy,” he said, doggedly blurting out the sentences. “The boy sent for me; he’d got into a bad scrape—about a girl. You can guess the rest of it.”
“Oh!” she gasped, feeling the earth whirling. “Not that!”
“Roy was in a blue funk and threatened to run away but I talked him out of that. The girl’s name is Sadie Denton; she’s not really a bad girl. I had a talk with her and went down to Louisville with them yesterday and saw them married. Her folks live there and they’ll look out for her till Roy finishes at the law school. I guess that’s about all. He didn’t want any of you to know about it just yet; but I sat down on that and he agreed I should tell you. I was sure you’d handle it right at home.”