"It was—it was——" he muttered, hands clenched.
"Rubbish!" She gave a short laugh. "You've nothing at all to blame yourself for."
"Oh, I have—I have."
Then he turned to her. "Louie, you've got to promise me one thing——"
But she stopped him. She knew what he was going to say.
"That's quite out of the question," she said.
"But look here!" He used the words he had used the second time they had met. "A fellow can't get a girl into a mess and then leave her in the lurch. You must marry me, Louie, if—if——"
At that she had found a touch of her old irony.
"Not unless, of course?"
"Oh yes—yes."