"You have not permitted yourself to love him? That means that you would
be in love with him if you dared, doesn't it?"

And Betty Jo, in the safe seclusion of her room, felt her cheeks burn as
she acknowledged the truth of the deduction.

The next question was inevitable: "Is Brian Kent in love with you, Betty
Jo?"

And Betty Jo, recalling many, many things, was compelled to answer, from
the triumphant gladness of her heart: "He is trying not to be, but he
can't help himself. And"--the downright and straightforward young woman
continued--"because I know that Brian Kent is trying so hard not to love
me is the real reason why I have not permitted myself to love him."

But the clear-thinking, practical Betty Jo protested quickly: "You must
remember that you are wholly ignorant of Brian Kent's history, except
for the things he has chosen to tell you. And those things in his life
which he has confessed to you are certainly not the things that could
win the love of a girl like you, even though they might arouse your
interest in the man. Interest is not love, Betty Jo. Are you quite sure
that you are not making the mistake that is most commonly made by young
women?"

Betty Jo was compelled to answer that she was not mistaking interest
for love, because had such been the case, she would not be able to so
analyze the situation. Betty Jo's quite womanly prejudice is admitted,
because the prejudice was so womanly, and because Betty Jo herself was
so womanly.