"
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I'm afraid I've addled my brains trying to cultivate
them, and what I'm more afraid of is that I've addled my common sense." She
spoke with such gayety, with such a roguish twinkle, and curve of lip, that
neither then nor later did he suspect that she was the heroine of her own
tale.
"Well, fire away. No, thanks, no more. I only drink tea to please you
anyway. Tea is so much hot water to me."
"Well, smoke." She pushed the box of cigarettes toward him. "I know you
smoke a pipe, but I won't let my husband smoke one at home. It's bad for my
curtains....This is it--One of my friends, poor thing, has had a terrible
experience: discovered that her husband has stolen the part of her little
fortune whose income enabled them to do something more than keep alive. You
see, it's a sad case. She believed in him, and he had always been the most
honest creature in the world; and that's as much of a blow as the loss of
the money."
"What'd he do it for?"
"Oh, I know so little about business...he wanted to get rich too quickly I
suppose...speculated or something...perhaps got into a hole. This has been
a bad year."
"Poor chap!" said Kirkpatriek reflectively.
"You're not commiserating _him_?"
"Ain't I, just? He done it, didn't he? He's got to pay the piper, hasn't
he? Women don't know anything about the awful struggles and temptations of
the rotten business world.
Pages:
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278