"Meaning me?"
He nodded.
"You've taken it on the chance that I'll come?"
"It's got to be completely furnished. If it wasn't you it would
probably be some one I didn't care about half so much. But it's going
to be you, isn't it, Maggy?"
"For three years!" Her voice trembled. "And after? What happens when
the agreement's run out? Has the girl got to be like the flat--taken on
by some one else? There was a play, wasn't there, a few years ago,
called 'Love and What Then?' It didn't last long."
She got up and went back into the sitting room. Woolf followed her.
"Won't you trust me and come?"
"If I came I should come without trusting you. I'm not the kind that
tiles herself in. I suppose I should let things rip."
"Well, it's yours for the taking. Only you've got to decide--now."
And suddenly Maggy's defenses broke down. She felt the frail bulwarks of
her unsheltered girlhood crumbling around her.
"It wouldn't be for the bathroom or the bedroom or what you'd give me,"
she said huskily.
"Wouldn't it?"
His arms were about her.
"No," she whispered. "It's you."
Woolf gave her a little Yale key.
"Here it is. Let yourself in when you want to take possession."
He had tea sent up from the restaurant and they had it together in the
cosy sitting room. Maggy was very subdued. She would go back to Sidey
Street only to pack the few personal possessions she treasured. She
hoped, was almost sure, Alexandra would be out. She dared not face her
just yet.
"I'll bring you back after the show to-night," Woolf reminded her when
they parted. "Don't forget I've given you the key."
"I've given you more than a key," said Maggy.
X
"Lexie, I feel a beast, but I've got to go. You'll never understand.
That's why I've said so little about him. Woolf, I mean. It isn't only
what he can give me, though it does mean something too. I'm wrong
somewhere, I suppose. I don't think about it like you do. And it's all
right for girls like me. Perhaps it's the only thing. You'll never want
to see me again. That's the one part that doesn't bear thinking about.
I don't suppose you'll believe I care a hang for you now, but I do, even
though it's too late to go on living with you if I wanted to. The other
thing was stronger, that's all. I had a little Persian cat once. I
used to let her out for exercise on a string because I was afraid of
losing her. But she got out when I wasn't looking all the same and
disappeared for three days. She couldn't help it, poor dear. It was
just her nature. I expect I'm like that cat. I was bound to go on the
tiles. You'll think that vulgar. I am vulgar all through. That's the
difference between us.
"You've been the best chum in the world, dear. I can't thank you
properly. I'm a rotter. I've left my cash on the dressing-table. I
don't want it. Fred Woolf will be looking after me. Take it, do
please. What's the use of starving when you needn't. Good-by, Lexie.
You may not believe it, but I'm crying and I _do_ care.
"MAGGY."