"Please!"
He told her at last. The story sounded strange in his own ears. When
he came to the end he saw to his astonishment that there were tears in
her eyes.
"Why--why, what's the matter?" he cried.
"I don't know," she said smiling through the rain. "Am I not silly?
But I suppose it means change. And I hate changes!"
"A change for the better, only. If you knew how I hated poverty!"
Her eyes dropped. "I, too," that meant, but she did not care to tell
him so, audibly.
"If you knew how mean I felt every day when we went to that beanery
together, and you had to pay for your own lunch!"
"But what was the difference? We both work for our living."
"A man feels differently. Why I never would ask you if I could come to
see you in the evenings, because I couldn't take you out anywhere. I
was afraid I couldn't keep my end up with your gang."
"I haven't any gang," she murmured.
"Well all that's ended now! Now there's no limit but the sky! And
here we are. The lawyer guy told me this was the swellest place
down-town."
A fresh panic seized her. "I can't eat in a place like this! I'm not
fit to be seen!"
"Nonsense! You always look like a lady!"
Circumstances were too strong for her. She found herself being wafted
across the sidewalk, and was delivered into the hands of the maid in
the lobby, before she could think of an effective resistance. Indeed
they were seated at a snowy little board brightened by an electric
candle, before she really got her breath. At Jack's elbow stood a
post-graduate waiter with a deferential bend in his back, and at just
the right distance an orchestra was discussing the _Meditation_ from
_Thaïs_.
A sigh escaped Kate, for after all she was a perfectly human girl.
"Oh, this is heavenly!"
Jack's eyes sparkled. "Good! I was wondering when you'd begin to let
yourself go." He leaned forward. "You should worry! You're the
prettiest girl here--and the best dressed!"
Which was true--on both counts. There was no doubt about her
prettiness; Heaven had attended to that. Eyes of the deepest blue with
a glance steady and deep; an adorable little nose, and a mouth at once
firm and most kissable. As for her clothes, it may be they were of
cheap materials, but the taste that had chosen redeemed them. The hat,
most important item, was of Kate's own manufacture, being copied from
the window of a milliner whose name is a household word.
"Don't be silly," said the wearer severely. "The waiter is waiting."
"That's what he's here for! Oh, dear! I wish we could stay all
afternoon!"
This was put forth really as a proposal rather than a wish. But Kate
was relentless.
"We'll have to hurry," she said firmly.
"Well, we've time for a cup of green turtle, a lobster paté and a coupe
St. Jacques," said Jack. A whispered order was added, and one of the
yellow backs changed hands. The waiter departed.
"One would think you had been coming here all your life," said Kate
demurely.
This was delicious flattery. "I've planned it in dreams," he said.
Presently the waiter returned, smiling from ear to ear, and bearing a
bunch of violets almost as big as a cart wheel. Their delicious
fragrance filled all the air. With a flourish he placed them before
Kate.