"But Maggy isn’t married," began Alexandra, and then stopped in confusion, suspecting that he must have seen the conspicuously broad wedding ring on Maggy’s left hand, just as she herself could see it. She crumbled her bread nervously. "Are you in favor of that sort of thing?" Meer asked abruptly, showing that he had been following her line of thought. "It’s very usual—on the stage," she answered evasively. "You don’t condemn it." "I don’t condemn my friend, if that’s what you mean." "But do you condone it?" he persisted. "Oh, how can I tell you? It’s a question of what one feels individually," she countered desperately. "With a woman it doesn’t necessarily mean that she has chosen that way.... Sometimes she has no alternative." "You mean that your friend would rather be married?" "Much rather." After a pause he said: "Then what is your opinion of a man who only offers a woman love without marriage?" "Not a very high one. I couldn’t respect him," she replied, greatly embarrassed. "It seems such an unfair advantage to take of a girl who has more than enough of unfair things to contend with already. I—I would rather not talk about it, if you don’t mind." It seemed to her that he was deliberately sounding her code of morality before making the proposition which she felt was imminent if she continued to see him. She could no longer disguise from herself that he wanted her, and that her own instinct was not one of flight. Had she met him before she had gone on the stage she would have estimated his feelings toward her correctly, seen that he was honorably attracted to her. But her recent experiences had distorted her views about courtship. Her heart would have beaten to a different tune had she known that his motive in questioning her about Maggy was merely to ascertain her opinion on a matter which, owing to her connection with the stage, must be familiar to her. After her expressed desire to avoid it he let it drop, and turned to another, more vital to himself and her, on which he had made up his mind to speak to her that evening. "How long must you and I go on like this?" he asked in an undertone, full of suppressed feeling. Her heart thumped in her throat so that she could not answer. "I mean," he said, "that it’s not very satisfying seeing you so occasionally. It’s true we haven’t known one another very long as time goes, but it has been long enough for me to realize my own feelings. I want you. Those three words mean everything that a man can say to a woman. What is your answer?"