I'm quite old really. I've been through a lot."

"You've never seen life yet," he said.

"I have!" she declared with an odd vehemence. "I've learnt lots of
things. Why--do you look like that? I'm not a child."

Her voice quivered a little in spite of her. Why did he look like
that? The compassion in his eyes smote her with a strange pain.
Why--why was he sorry for her?

He saw her rising agitation, and spoke, slowly, choosing his words.
"The fact is, Guy isn't what you take him for--isn't the right man
for you. Nothing on this earth can make him so now, whatever he
may have been once. He's taken the wrong turning, and there's no
getting back."

She gazed at him with wide eyes. Her lips felt stiff and cold.
"What--what--do you mean, please?" she said.

She saw his hands clench. "I don't want to tell you what I mean,"
he said. "Haven't I said enough?"

She shook her head slowly, with drawn brows. "No--no! I've got to
understand. Do you mean Guy doesn't want me after all? Didn't he
really mean me to come? He--sent a message."

"I know. That's the infernal part of it." Burke Ranger spoke with
suppressed force. "He was blind drunk when he sent it."