"You are mistaken. You are not a great hulking idiot. And I do love you. I shall never love anyone but you. It is you who will not love me when you have heard all I have to say."
"What nonsense are you talking?"
Again he held out his arms to me. And again I shrank away.
"It is not nonsense. I wish it were. So far is it from being nonsense that I felt that I could not be at peace until my conscience was unburdened." I paused. I felt the crucial moment was arriving. My voice sank lower. "Someone else was staying here before you came."
"Yes, I know; Lily told me--a man named Pentland."
"Oh, Lily told you so much, did she? Did Lily also tell you that the man named Pentland had bad taste enough to fancy that he had fallen in love with me?"
"Bad taste, you call it. I know nothing about the man, but there, evidently, can be no sort of doubt about his perfect taste."
"But, Charlie--I mean, Mr. Mason."
"You don't--you mean Charlie."
Dear mamma, once more I sighed. I perceived that it would have to be. Some men are so dictatorial.