"We are always glad to see you, but Fred and I had contemplated braving the weather to go to hear Paderewski," she said, sweetly.
"Then don't let me detain you, I beg of you," he answered, with profound regret.
"Oh, that's all right, we have an hour or more, I am all ready, so you stay and go in as we do."
"No, I will not go with you, but will stay awhile, since you are kind enough to permit me." And he laughed, a little mournfully.
"Cherokee, I have come for two reasons—to tell you that I am going home to Maryland to see a sick mother, and to tell you" He paused, hesitating, a great bitterness welled up in his breast; a firmness came about his mouth and he went on:
"It is folly for you to persuade yourself that you could accommodate your future life to sacrifice, poverty—this is all wrong. When we look it coldly in the face it is a fact, and we may dispute facts but it is difficult to alter them."
There was no response from her except the clasping of the hand he held over his fingers for a moment.
"I had no right that you should wait for me through years, for your young life is filled with possibilities. I, alone, make them impossible, and I must remove that factor."
