“A bad promise is better broken than kept, Madge. And what kind of a promise is it anyway, when it injures and hurts somebody?”
This sort of argument, harped upon long enough, would have the girl’s defenses down.
“Please, Gordon, let me pass. People are watching.”
“Madge, are you afraid of me?”
“Of course I’m not afraid of you!”
“Get into the car then. For an hour let me talk to you—while we’re driving, I mean. I’ll have you back by eight o’clock. I promise it, faithfully. You’ve never heard my side of the story, Madge. Until you do, it’s not fair to condemn me. Not on your mother’s say-so.”
“I can’t! I just can’t!”
Gordon’s face assumed the proper recklessness.
“All right, if that’s the way you feel about it. But next time you hear of me raising hell don’t blame anybody but yourself. Didn’t you ever have the feeling that no one care about you—what you did, or what became of you? No, of course you haven’t——”
“Gord! Come back! Don’t go off feeling so!”