him in the street. She’s gone on with all the preparations for your marriage. She must have lived in a world of lies, and you never suspected anything because you had an unalterable belief in her love and truthfulness. She owes everything to you. For four years she’s lived on your charity. She was only able to be here because you gave her money to carry out a foolish whim, and the very clothes on her back were paid for by you.”
“I can’t help it if she didn’t love me,” he cried desperately.
“You know just as well as I do that she pretended to love you. Oh, she’s behaved shamefully. There can be no excuse for her.”
He looked at Susie with haggard, miserable eyes.
“How can you be so cruel? For God’s sake don’t make it harder.”
There was an indescribable agony in his voice. And as if his own words of pain overthrew the last barrier of his self-control, he broke down utterly. He hid his face in his hands and sobbed. Susie was horribly conscience-stricken.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to say such hateful things. I didn’t mean to be unkind. I ought to have remembered how passionately you love her.”
It was very painful to see the effort he made to regain his self-command. Susie suffered as much as he did. Her impulse was to throw herself on her knees, and kiss his hands, and comfort him; but she knew that he was interested in her only because she was Margaret’s friend. At last he got up, and
