“Why?”
“Because he has left.”
“Left!” I echoed. “Of course you know where he is?”
“No, I don’t,” she replied. “He annoyed me in business by speaking harshly to me before a customer, and I told him plainly that I would never again go out in his company. He apologised, but I was obdurate, and I have never seen him since. He went away that night, and has not returned. His place was filled up to-day. At first it was thought that he might have stolen something; but nothing has been missed, and now his sudden departure is believed to be due to his natural impetuousness and eccentricity.”
“Then it would seem that owing to a disagreement with you he left his employment. That’s really very remarkable!” I said.
“Yes. Everybody thinks it strange, but, of course, they don’t know that we quarrelled.”
“And you swear to me that you have never loved him, Muriel?” I asked, looking straight into her upturned face.
“I swear to you, Clifton,” she answered. “I swear that he has never once kissed me, nor has he uttered a word of affection. We were merely friends.”
“Then that makes the aspect of affairs even more puzzling,” I observed. “That he had some motive for leaving secretly there is no doubt. What, I wonder, could it have been?”
“I don’t know, and it really doesn’t trouble me,” she replied. “I was exceedingly glad when he went, and now am doubly glad that I came and sought your forgiveness.”