He looked blank. “Home?”
“Yes.” She stopped crying. “Baldy, something has happened—and I’ve got to tell you.” Tensely, with her hands clasped about her knees, she rehearsed for him the scene between Adelaide and Frederick Towne. And when she finished she said, “I can’t marry him.”
“Of course not. A girl like you. You’d be miserable. And that’s the end of it.”
“Utterly miserable.” She stared before her. Then presently she went on. “I stayed up-stairs all the morning. Lucy and Edith have been perfect dears. I think Edith lays it to the announcement of my engagement to-night. That I was dreading it. Of course it mustn’t be announced, Baldy.”
He stood up, sternly renouncing his dreams. “Get your things on, Jane, and I’ll take you home. You can’t stay here, of course. We can decide later what it is best to do.”
“I don’t see how I can break it off. He’s done so much for us. I can’t ever—pay him——”
In Baldy’s pocket was the pink slip. He took it out and handed it to his sister. “Jane, I got the prize. Two thousand dollars.”
“Baldy!” Her tone was incredulous.
He had no joy in the announcement. The thing had ceased to mean freedom—it had ceased to mean—Edith. It meant only one thing at the moment, to free Jane from bondage.
He gave Jane the letter and she read it. “It is your great opportunity.”