“And then?”
“Oh, then things were different. She didn’t need company, and—and—things happened. My friend, Miss Rhodes—”
Janet waved aside “my friend, Miss Rhodes,” with an impatient hand.
“And Erskine? What did he say to your leaving?”
The colour flamed in Claire’s cheek; she stammered in hopeless confusion, and, in the midst of her stammering, Janet laid both hands on the table, and, leaning forward so that the two faces were only a few inches apart, spoke a few startling words—
“Has he—proposed to you? I must know! You must tell me!”
It was a command, rather than an appeal, and Claire automatically replied—
“He—he did! Yes, but—”
“And you?”
“I—couldn’t. I said no!”