"Won't you sit down, Mr. Haines?" she said. "I'll--I'll try to entertain you until father comes," she said weakly, realizing that again she was alone with the man she loved.
Haines sat at a table in the reception-room, across from Hope Georgia, and his gratitude for her battle in his favor mingled with a realization of qualities in this young lady that he had never before noticed. Probably he did not know that what he had really seen in her that day and that evening was the sudden transition from girlhood to womanhood, her casting aside of thoughtless, irresponsive youth and the shouldering of the responsibilities of the grown woman who would do her share in the world's work.
He stared across in astonishment at this slip of a girl who had outwitted two resourceful men and an older sister of unquestioned ability.
"I do not recognize you, Miss Hope," he said finally.
"Perhaps you never looked at me before," she suggested archly, feeling instinctively that this was her hour; that the man she loved was at this moment thinking more about her than of anything else in the world.
"That must be it," he agreed. Then he leaned forward eagerly. "But I'm looking at you now, and I like looking at you. I like what you've done for me."
"Oh, that was nothing, Mr. Haines," she exclaimed airily, her intuition telling her of her sway over the man.
"Nothing!" he exclaimed. "Well, it's more than any one ever did for me before. I've known lots of girls--"
"I don't doubt that, Mr. Haines," Hope interjected, with a light laugh.
"Yes, I say I've known lots of girls, but there's never been one who showed herself such a true friend as you have been. There's never been any one who believed in me this way when I was practically down and out."
"Perhaps you've never been down and out before, Mr. Haines, so they never had a chance to show whether they believed in you or not."
"That may be one reason," he answered. "I wonder why"--he paused--"I wonder why your sister Carolina did not believe in me."
"You were quite fond of her, weren't you?" the girl began, then stopped and turned away her head.
"I was, yes. I even thought I loved her, but I soon saw my mistake. It wasn't love. It was only a kind of--"
Suddenly pausing, Bud Haines shot a swift glance at the girl.