"He says so. He said he was desperately in love with you."
"Why, Lois--!" began Mrs. Lancaster, with the color mounting to her cheeks. "Well, he has gotten bravely over it," she laughed.
"He has not. He is in love with you now," the young girl said calmly.
Mrs. Lancaster turned and faced her with her mouth open to speak, and read the girl's sincerity in her face. "With me!" She clasped her hands with a pretty gesture over her bosom. A warm feeling suddenly surged to her heart.
The younger woman nodded.
"Yes--and, oh, Mrs. Lancaster, don't treat him badly!" She laid both hands on her arm and looked at her earnestly. "He has loved you always," she continued.
"Loved me! Lois, you are dreaming." But as she said it, Alice's heart was beating.
"Yes, he was talking to me one evening, and he began to tell me of his love for a girl,--a young girl,--and what a part it had played in his life--"
"But I was married," put in Mrs. Lancaster, seeking for further proof rather than renouncing this.
"Yes, he said she did not care for him; but he had always striven to keep her image in his heart--her image as she was when he knew her and as he imagined her."