“Your secret appears to have leaked.”
She came into the auditorium to join him. She led him back, away from the others, and sat down. “Darling,” she said, swiftly, “I have something that's dreadfully hard to tell you. I couldn't put it on paper. But you have to know right away.” She caught her breath and said: “I have a lover.”
“A what?” he exclaimed. When he took in the meaning of her words, he said: “Oh, my God!”
“I know you'll think it's horrid, but don't be too mean to me. I couldn't help it. It's the man who's putting up the money for the show and giving me this part.”
The youth had never been so stunned in all his life. He was speechless; and the girl rushed on:
“I had a chance, Lanny; I might never have had another. He's a big coffee merchant, who happened to see my performance in Holborn. He lives in New York and he invited me to come. He offered to take me to a good manager and find me a part — right away, without any waste of time. What could I say, Lanny?”
The youth remembered his mother's phrase. “You paid the price?”
“Don't be horrid to me, Lanny. Don't let's spoil our friendship. Try to see my side. You know I'm an actress. I told you I didn't know anything else, I didn't care about anything else — I wanted to get on the stage, and I'm doing it.”
“There isn't any honest way?”
“Please, darling — use your common sense. This is New York. What chance does a girl stand? I'd have tramped the heels off my shoes going to managers' offices, and they wouldn't even have seen me. I'd have called myself lucky to get a part with three lines — and I'd have spent a month or two rehearsing, going into debt for my board while I did it. The play might have failed the first week, and I'd have twenty dollars, maybe thirty, to pay my debts with. Believe me, I've talked to show girls these few weeks, and I know what the game is.”