He put out his hand toward her, gropingly, and she took it.
“And I am equally certain of one thing, and that is that you care for me. And I tell you, Chip, I don’t care twopence for your self-respect, or whatever you call it, that you think so much of. And I care even less for my own, at the moment. And I am tired of your loneliness—your awful loneliness—and I am tired to death of my own loneliness. And I am tired of hearing you call yourself a failure, and I am frightened of being a failure myself—and only you can save me from it. Only you! And if you talk any more nonsense about my kindness now …”
“Judy!” he cried, in a voice that was like a warning. “Judy!”
“Yes. I’ve done a dreadful thing. I know I have. And I don’t care. I want you to tell me all the things you haven’t dared to tell me yet. I want to hear them all … now. Are you going to tell me, Chip? Are you?”
She was half frightened when she saw the look of exaltation on his face. It was his great—his supreme moment. The moment that comes once to nearly every man, of awe and ecstasy.
“God forgive me!” he cried. “I will!”
[CHAPTER XXIV]
Connie, of late, had been giving much thought to Petrovitch.
That gentleman was well aware that she avoided seeing him because her nephew had persuaded her to do so, and he was not pleased. There were other things that did not please him. His concerts had been less successful than they should have been—was it possible that his popularity was on the wane?—and his wealthy American wife, who, up till now, had been very prodigal with her money, had just obtained a divorce from him. He had believed all along that she would relent. However, the thing that most seriously disquieted him was the unsatisfactory condition of the box office returns. He accused his manager of failing to advertise. He said unkind things of the British public. He said there wasn’t a decent hall in London, from the point of view of acoustics, and lastly he claimed that the food offered to him at the many houses where he was entertained, was abominable, and was ruining his digestion.