“Would you have me consort with the enemy?” he asked, scarcely daring to press his deeper meaning.
“Oh, no, of course not. What did you talk about? Do you mind telling?”
“Not in the least; our conversation was entirely impersonal. She was telling me about Hawley; what a wonderfully good man he is. I have begun to suspect the fellow has fascinated the poor girl--he is a good looking devil, possessed of a tongue dripping with honey.”
“Surely you do not mean she has fallen in love with him,” and Hope shuddered at the thought. “Why--why that would be impossible for--for a good woman.”
“Standards of morality are not always the same,” he defended gravely. “Miss Maclaire's environment has been vastly different from yours, Hope. She is a variety hall singer; probably, from her own account, a waif since childhood; and Hawley has come to her in the character of a friend, appealing both to her interest and sympathy. I do not know she is in love with him, I merely suspect she may be; certainly she is ready to do battle on his behalf at the slightest opportunity. She believes in him, defends him, and resents the slightest insinuation directed against him. He even escorts her back and forth from her work.”
“I certainly do,” and he laughed at the recollection. “Fairbain met us coming out of the dining-room,--you know what a delightful, blunt, blundering old fellow he is! Well, Miss Christie must have made an impression even on his bachelor heart, for he actually requested the privilege of escorting her to the Trocadero, and back to the hotel after the performance to-night--hinted at a lunch, the gay old dog, and pranced about like a stage-door Johnnie. It was a treat to watch her face when he blurted it all out, snapping his sentences as if he swung a whip-lash. She excused herself on the score of a previous engagement.”
“But that was not necessarily with Hawley.”
“I asked her directly, after the doctor had disappeared.”
“You must have become very familiar,” questioning once again in her voice.
“So Miss Maclaire evidently thought, judging from her manner. However she answered frankly enough, and, even defiantly, added the information that the gentleman had something to impart to her of the utmost importance, sarcastically asking me if I didn't wish I could be there and overhear. But sit down, Hope, until I tell you all that has occurred.”