"No; I 've confessed to being a good-for-nothing, but I 'm clear of
crime."

She drew a long breath of relief.

"I do not quite believe," she said firmly. "You--you do not look like
that."

I laughed in spite of my efforts.

"I am delighted to have you say so. No more do I feel like that now.
Yet so the record reads, and you must accept me just as I am, or not at
all. I have nothing else to offer."

She lowered her eyes, her fingers still nervously fumbling the menu
card.

"Perhaps I have no more."

"I have asked no explanation of you."

"True; yet you cannot be devoid of curiosity. You meet me after
midnight, wandering alone in the streets; you see me boldly,
shamelessly, interfering to prevent the arrest of a strange man; you
hear me deliberately falsify, again and again. What could you think of
such a woman? Then I accept your invitation, and accompany you here,
believing you a criminal. What possible respect could you, or any
other man, entertain for a girl guilty of such indiscretion?"