"I did," said Mildred. "He has been--really wonderful--better than almost any man would have been--more considerate than I deserved. And I took advantage of it." "A woman has to," said Cyrilla. "The fight between men and women is so unequal." "I took advantage of him," repeated Mildred. "And he apologized, and I--I went on taking the money. I didn't know what else to do. Isn't that dreadful?" "Nothing to be proud of," said Cyrilla. "But a very usual transaction." "And then," pursued Mildred, "I discovered that I--that I'd not be able to make a career. But still I kept on, though I've been trying to force myself to--to show some pride and self-respect. I discovered it only a short time ago, and it wasn't really until to-day that I was absolutely sure." "You ARE sure?" "There's hardly a doubt," replied Mildred. "But never mind that now. I've got to make a living at something, and while I'm learning whatever it is, I've got to have money to live on. And I can get it only from him. Now, he asks me to marry him. He wouldn't ask me if he didn't think I was going to be a great singer. He doesn't know it, but I do." Mrs. Brindley smiled sweetly. "And he thinks that I love him, also. If I accept him, it will be under doubly false pretenses. If I refuse him I've got to stop taking the money." A long silence; then Mrs. Brindley said: "Women--the good ones, too--often feel that they've a right to treat men as men treat them. I think almost any woman would feel justified in putting off the crisis." "You mean, I might tell him I'd give him my answer when I was independent and had paid back." Cyrilla nodded. Mildred relit her cigarette, which she had let go out. "I had thought of that," said she. "But--I doubt if he'd tolerate it. Also"--she laughed with the peculiar intonation that accompanies the lifting of the veil over a deeply and carefully hidden corner of one's secret self--"I am afraid. If I don't marry him, in a few weeks, or months at most, he'll probably find out that I shall never be a great singer, and then I'd not be able to marry him if I wished to." "He IS a temptation," said Cyrilla. "That is, his money is--and he personally is very nice." "I married a man I didn't care for," pursued Mildred. "I don't want ever to do that again. It is--even in the best circumstances--not agreeable, not as simple as it looks to the inexperienced girls who are always doing it." "Still, a woman can endure that sort of thing," said Mrs. Brindley, "unless she happens to be in love with another man." She was observing the unconscious Mildred narrowly, a state of inward tension and excitement hinted in her face, but not in her voice. "That's just it?" said Mildred, her face carefully averted. "I--I happen to be in love with another man." A spasm of pain crossed Cyrilla's face.