heavy lips had closed on hers that were still wet and salty with tears.
When she had left the office, at the end of that strange hour, she had
gone with the promise of his protection.

The sobering light of day, with its cynic relapse to actualities, might
have left that promise a worthless one, had not the prompt evidence of
Sheldon's suicide come to hand. This made Blake's task easier than he
had expected. The movement against Elsie Verriner was "smothered" at
Headquarters. Two days later she met Blake by appointment. That day,
for the first time in his life, he gave flowers to a woman.

Two weeks later he startled her with the declaration that he wanted to
marry her. He did n't care about her past. She 'd been dragged into
the things she 'd done without understanding them, at first, and she 'd
kept on because there 'd been no one to help her away from them. He
knew he could do it. She had a fine streak in her, and he wanted to
bring it out!

A little frightened, she tried to explain that she was not the marrying
kind. Then, brick-red and bull-necked, he tried to tell her in his
groping Celtic way that he wanted children, that she meant a lot to
him, that he was going to try to make her the happiest woman south of
Harlem.

This had brought into her face a quick and dangerous light which he
found hard to explain. He could see that she was flattered by what he
had said, that his words had made her waywardly happy, that for a
moment, in fact, she had been swept off her feet.

Then dark afterthought interposed. It crept like a cloud across her