"Please do not misunderstand his friendship for me, then. If you were his friend I would not need to say this. He was very kind to me, Mr. Hamil."
"I do not doubt it," said Hamil gravely.
"And you do not mistake, what I say?"
He looked her in the eyes, curious—and, in a moment, convinced.
"No," he said gently.... And, offering his hand: "Men are very ignorant concerning one another. Women are wiser, I think."
He took the slender black-gloved hand in his.
"Can I be of the least use to you?" he asked.
"You have been," she sighed, "if what I said has taught you to know him a little better."
A week later when the curtain fell on the second act of the new musical comedy, "The Inca," critics preparing to leave questioned each other with considerable curiosity concerning this newcomer, Dorothy Wilming, who had sung so intelligently and made so much out of a subordinate part.