Of course, this meant a great change. There was to come the day of reckoning with Matthias.... She had four letters of his, not one of which she had answered.... If "The Lie" got booking, and she went on the road with it--as she knew in her soul she would: nothing now could keep her off the stage--she would almost certainly lose Matthias. Quard, however, would remain to her; and of Quard she was very sure. That he loved her with genuine and generous devotion was now the one clear and indisputable fact in her unstable existence. If only he would refrain from drinking.... He was to telephone as soon as he received any encouraging news; and he had expected definite word from Boskerk before the afternoon was over. In anticipation of being called down-stairs at any minute, Joan remained in her street dress, aching for her bed though she was with reaction and simple fatigue. But it was nearly eight o'clock before she was summoned. "That you, girlie?" the answer came to her breathless "Hello?" "Yes--yes, Charlie. What is it?" "I've seen Boskerk--in fact, I'm eating with him now. It's all settled. We're to open next Monday somewhere in New England--Springfield, probably; and we get forty weeks solid on top of that." "I'm so glad!" "Sure you are. We're all glad, I guess." "And--Charlie--" she stammered. "Hello?" "Are you--are you all right?" "Sure I'm all right. Good night, girlie. Take care of yourself. See you tomorrow." "Good night," said Joan. Hooking up the receiver, she leaned momentarily against the wall, feeling a little faint and ill. Was it simply overtaxed imagination that had made her believe she detected a slight constraint in Quard's voice--a hesitation assumed to mask blurred enunciation? XXIV But when Joan met Quard in the morning her anxious eyes detected in his assured bearing none of the nervous unrest, in his clear eyes and the even tone of his coarse, pasty-pale skin none of the feverish stains, that are symptomatic of alcoholic excesses. Surprised and grateful, she treated the man with a tenderness and sweetness she had otherwise been too wary to betray.... By Thursday it was settled that they were to open on Monday at Poli's Theatre in Springfield, for an engagement of a week. If the audiences there endorsed the verdict of the first, Boskerk promised Quard a full season's booking. From the Springfield house he was to receive three hundred and fifty dollars. He permitted Joan to understand, however, that his fee would be no more than the sum he had first mentioned--three hundred dollars.