"Mr. Brendon," she said, "if I could ask for advice, or borrow money
from any one, I would from you--there! But I cannot. I never could. I
suppose I ought to have been a man. You see, I have had to look after
myself so long that I have developed a terrible bump of independence."
"Such independence," he answered quickly, "is a vice. You see to what
it has brought you. You are going to accept a post as chorus girl, or
super, or something of that sort."
"You do not flatter me," she laughed.
"I am too much in earnest," he answered, "to be able to take this
matter lightly."
"I am rebuked," she declared. "I suppose my levity is incorrigible.
But seriously, things are not so bad as you think."
He groaned.
"They never seem so at first!" he said.
"You do not quite understand," she said gently. "I will tell you the
truth. It is true that I have accepted an engagement from Mr. Earles,
but it is a good one. I am not going to be a chorus girl, or even a
super. I have never told you so, or Sydney, but I can sing--rather
well. When my father died, and we were left alone in Jersey, I was
quite a long time deciding whether I would go in for singing
professionally or try painting. I made a wrong choice, it seems--but
my voice remains."
"You are really going on the stage, then?" he said slowly.
"In a sense--yes."
Brendon went very pale.
"Miss Pellissier," he said, "don't!"
"Why not?" she asked, smiling. "I must live, you know."
"I haven't told any one the amount," he went on. "It sounds too
ridiculous. But I have two hundred thousand pounds. Will you marry
me?"
Anna looked at him in blank amazement. Then she burst into a peal of
laughter.
"My dear boy," she exclaimed. "How ridiculous! Fancy you with all that
money! For heaven's sake, though, do not go about playing the Don
Quixote like this. It doesn't matter with me, but there are at least a
dozen young women in Mr. Earles' waiting-room who would march you
straight off to a registrar's office."
"You have not answered my question," he reminded her.
"Nor am I going to," she answered, smiling. "I am going to ignore it.
It was really very nice of you, but to-morrow you will laugh at it as
I do now."
"Is it necessary," he said, "for me to tell you----"
"Stop, please," she said firmly.
Brendon was silent.
"Do not force me to take you seriously," she continued. "I like to
think of your offer. It was impulsive and natural. Now let us forget
it."
"I understand," he said, doggedly.
"And you must please not look at me as though I were an executioner,"
she declared lightly. "I will tell you something if you like. One of
the reasons why I left Paris and came to London was because there was
a man there who wanted me to marry him. I really cared for him a
little, but I am absolutely determined not to marry for some time at
any rate. I do not want to get only a second-hand flavour of life. One
can learn and understand only by personal experience, by actual
contact with the realities of life. I did not want anything made
smooth and easy for me. That is why I would not marry this man whom I
did and whom I do care for a little. Later on--well then the time may
come. Then perhaps I shall send for him if he has not forgotten."