THE AMATEUR LOVER
She opened her eyes in surprise."Why, yes," she said, "that's all that is, it's all if you under stand. I'm not complaining because Aleck Reese did n't love me, but because, loving me, he was n't intelligent enough to be true to me. You do un- derstand, don't you? You understand that it was n't because he did n't pay his love bills, but be cause he did n't know enough to pay them. He took my loyalty without paying for it with his; he took my devotion, my tenderness, my patience, with out ever, ever making any adequate return. Any girl ought to be able to tell in six months whether her lover is using her affection rightly, whether he is taking her affection and investing it with his toward their mutual happiness and home. Aleck invested nothing. He just took all my love that he could grab and squandered it on himself al ways and forever on himself. A girl, I say, ought to be able to tell in six months. But I am very stupid. It has taken me three years."
"Well, what do you want me to do?" Drew asked a bit quizzically.
"I want you to advise me," she said.
"Advise you-what?" persisted Drew.
The first real flicker of comedy flamed in the girl's face. Her white cheeks pinked and dimpled.
"Why, advise me to marry you!" she an-
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