III

NELLIE, to make matters worse, would say,
Whenever they met: "I have no doubt
You see poor Jim Wayne every day,
Hopelessly hanging about."

And Lee would laugh as she answered: "He
Belongs, I fear, to that class in life
That thinks it wrong to go out to tea
Without his wedded wife."

But her faith in herself was bruised and shaken,
She who had seen so much of men;
And she thought: "Can I possibly be mistaken,
Was there nothing between us, then?

"What is it keeps him away, I wonder?
Does he lack courage. . has he no thirst
For life? Oh, dear, it would be a blunder
For me to call him first."

And then in spite of this long debating,
She'd called his office. . . she didn't know how,
And a strange voice said, after keeping her waiting:
"Mr. Wayne's out, just now."

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