Moll Gregory shrugged her shoulders.
"Don't think Mr. Power sent me here to plead for him. He can look after himself in most cases I have found. But I am so great a friend of his that it distresses me to see him so unhappy. The quicker he is sent about his business the sooner he will find cure. I hate to interfere; but it was for old acquaintance sake I came along to-day to ask you to help me put things into better shape. I tell you Mr. Power is a changed man this last month. It hurts me keenly to see him come to this."
"I will tell him the worry he's givin' you."
"You must never say a word about this visit."
"Why not? You are a kind friend."
"You must not say one word."
"Not say Miss Neville called? The Miss Neville as was going to marry him."
She could have cried aloud at the hurt, and the next moment a cold courage possessed her. "You cannot hurt me like that," she said in a level voice, "and I have done my best to take care of your feelings. True, I am engaged to Mr. Power, and we should have been married had he not become fond of you. I have spent a good many unhappy hours lately, as no doubt you suppose; but no anxieties of my own would have brought me here to haggle and bargain. That might have happened when I lost my head in the beginning; but I have had long enough to look things in the face and accept what must be. Understand me then, I am still fond of Mr. Power in spite of what has happened and I want to do what I can to help. If you have ever loved a man, you will believe me. If you don't know what love is, you will have to think as you like, and I suppose I shall be none the worse or better for the verdict."
"There's others have been in love besides you, Miss Neville. There's others have had their kisses."