But go on. You are amusing,
in a way.''
``I'll wager I am. You never thought I'd be caught?
I believed I was immune--vaccinated against it.
I thought I knew all the tricks and turns of the sex.
Yet here I am!''
``What do you think caught you?''
``That's the mystery. It's simply that I can't do
without her. Everything she looks and says and does
interests me more than anything else in the world. And
when I'm not with her I'm wishing I were and wondering
how she's looking or what she's saying or doing. You
don't think she'll refuse me?'' This last with real
anxiety.
``I haven't an idea,'' replied Mrs. Brindley. ``She's
--peculiar. In some moods she would. In others, she
couldn't. And I've never been able to settle to my
satisfaction which kind of mood was the real Mary
Stevens.''
``She IS queer, isn't she?'' said Stanley thoughtfully.
``But I've told her she'd be free to go on with the career.
Fact is, I want her to do it.''
Mrs. Brindley's eyes twinkled. ``You think it would
justify you to your set in marrying her, if she made
a great hit?''
Stanley blushed ingenuously.
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