"But I was proud of you, little Joy. I didn't know what a
wonderful person I had found.... Little fairy princess!"
Ten minutes earlier the note of affection and pride in his voice
would have made Joy so deliriously happy that she wouldn't have
known what to do. But ... Gail knew ... Gail knew all about it
all! ... How could men! And she had said she was going to give a tea.
That probably meant that she was going to tell everybody everything,
and laugh about it.
She _was_ tired, and the shock of Gail's words had taken all
the capacity for action out of her. She knew that if she'd had any
proper feelings she would have moved coldly away from John, and
accused him of betraying her to Gail, and demanded why he had done
it. Evidently she had no proper feelings. You can't have, if you
love people hard. She merely lay against John's strong, broad
shoulder that felt so alive and comforting, and thought that this
was the last time she would ever lean against it, or feel, as she
always did when he touched her, as if there was some one who would
look after her, and stand between her and every one else. She could
not talk.
When they reached the Harrington house Allan took the car around to
the garage at the back, himself, and Phyllis said she would stay in
the car with him while he locked the garage. The men began to tease
her for the idea she had offered, but Joy, hearing Phyllis
laughingly defend herself, and explain what she really meant, knew
that it was Phyllis' way of giving John a chance to say good-night
to her alone.
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