“I grant that. But there’s no need for you to go. You’d far better not. It’s not quite—” He stopped in mid-sentence, with an expressive lift of the shoulders.
“Not quite proper. I didn’t expect you to say that, Justin,” she reproached. “After what he did for us.”
“He did only what any self-respecting man would do.”
Her smile coaxed him. “Well, I want to do only what any self-respecting woman would do. Surely it’ll be all right if you go along.”
How could he tell her that he knew no other unmarried woman of her age, outside of professional nurses, who would consider such a thing for the sake of a comparative stranger? How could he make her see that Black’s cabin was no place for a young girl to stay? He was exasperated at her persistence. It offended his amour propre. Why all this discussion about one of his employees who had been a tramp only a few months since?
Merrick shook his head. His lips smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes. “You’re a very impulsive and very generous young woman. But if you were a little older you would see—”
She broke impatiently into his argument. “Don’t you see how I feel, Justin? I’ve got to do what I can for him. We’re not in a city where we can ring up for a trained nurse. I’m the only available woman that can get in to him. Why did I take my Red Cross training if I’m not to help those who are sick?”
“Can’t you trust me to look out for him?”
“Of course I can. That’s not the point. There’s so much in nursing. Any doctor will tell you so. Maybe he needs expert care. I really can nurse. I’ve done it all my life.”
“You don’t expect to nurse everybody in the county that falls sick, do you? Don’t you see, dear girl, that Black’s shack is no place for you?”