“It nearly drove me mad to hear you spoken of by him. There was a scene, and I knocked him down ... you will hate me for this, but I would have killed him if they had let me. I told them afterwards that you were my wife––try and understand how I have suffered all these weeks––I told them that we had been married some time, and that it had been kept secret by your own wish. It’s only now, when I am more alone and can think clearly, that I see what I have done. You don’t care for me, and I have compromised you even more than that man did by his lying insinuations. Tell me what I am to do––anything, anything in the world. My whole life is yours to do with as you will. Be my wife, dear, be my wife....”
For a moment the pen faltered, but Micky went on again with an effort.
“I will stay in London twenty-four hours for your answer, and then, if I don’t hear....”
The pen faltered again, and this time finally stopped.
CHAPTER XXXVI
“The question is,” said June critically, looking out of the window to the street where a fine drizzle of rain was falling, “does one, or does one not, wear one’s best hat to go out and meet the one and only man one has ever loved?” She turned round and looked at Esther with a little nod. “That’s grammar, though you may not think it, my dear,” she said.
Esther laughed.
“I should say one does wear one’s best hat,” she said decidedly. “Especially seeing what a very charming hat it is.”