As a man devoted to a serious
calling in life, there was something that wounded his
self-respect in the bare suspicion that he could be guilty of the
purely sentimental extravagance called "love at first sight."
He had paused exactly opposite to the chair in which Grace was
seated. Weary of the silence, she seized the opportunity of
speaking to him.
"I have come here with you as you wished," she said. "Are you
going to help me? Am I to count on you as my friend?"
He looked at her vacantly. It cost him an effort before he could
give her the attention that she had claimed.
"You have been hard on me," Grace went on. "But you showed me
some kindness at first; you tried to make them give me a fair
hearing. I ask you, as a just man, do you doubt now that the
woman on the sofa in the next room is an impostor who has taken
my place? Can there be any plainer confession that she is Mercy
Merrick than the confession she has made? _You_ saw it; _they_
saw it. She fainted at the sight of me."
Julian crossed the room--still without answering her--and rang
the bell. When the servant appeared, he told the man to fetch a
cab.
Grace rose from her chair.
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