"Do not worry over it, please, dear friend. Even if Kathleen is lost to you, there are hundreds of other girls as well worth the winning."
He did not answer; he was dumb with despair; but he suffered Alpine to cling to his arm and walk up and down by his side, murmuring low words of sympathy all the while.
"I shall scold Kathleen for her cruelty to you; you did not deserve it, for you were true to her," she said, and sighed. "Ah, how sad it is for one's love to prove false—false and fickle!"
He turned on her almost fiercely.
"You believe that she loves this Darrell?" he exclaimed.
"I believe she does," answered Alpine, with pretended reluctance, exulting in the pain she saw on his face.
It gave her a savage joy to wound him in his love for Kathleen. She longed to make him hate the hapless girl as bitterly as she herself hated her.
"I must go," he said, abruptly; then as she clung to his hand: "Do not forget your promise to go to her to-morrow. And—you will send me a note? I play here all this week."
"Yes, you shall hear from me. I shall see you again, too, for I'm coming every night to see you act," she answered, sweetly.