"I want you, Molly. Nothing short of that will satisfy me."
"Then comes another temptation—worse than anything."
"What is that?"
"It's Alice. She wants me——"
"Does she hiss 'diamonds' in your ear?"
"No. She says that she's so fond of me she cannot live without me, and she wants me to live with them altogether. And John chimes in. Says he will adopt me, and make me his heiress. Think of that, Dick! Millions! All for me—for me, the daughter of a failure."
"Molly." Dick spoke with solemnity suitable to the occasion. "This goes to the very root of things. You can't go on tramp with me if you begin to hanker after millions. No one ever heard of a great heiress talking to a gipsy or dancing in a barn. It can't be done. The weight of the dollars would nail your very heels to the boards."
"But, Dick, they're my own people, you know."
"My child"—Dick rose, for it was getting cold—"this is the most alarming temptation of all. It must be stopped right away. Look here, Molly," they were standing face to face under the lamp-post beside the railings of the park, "you know very well that you are only shamming. You love me; and I—well, shall I say it?"
"Stage people have no emotions, Dick. You said so yourself just now."