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ry.’
‘That’ll do me a fat lot of good.’
Again Philip found nothing to say. He was desperately
afraid of saying anything which she might take for a re-
proach or a sneer.
‘Where’s the baby?’ he asked at last.
‘I’ve got her with me in London. I hadn’t got the money to
keep her on at Brighton, so I had to take her. I’ve got a room
up Highbury way. I told them I was on the stage. It’s a long
way to have to come down to the West End every day, but
it’s a rare job to find anyone who’ll let to ladies at all.’
‘Wouldn’t they take you back at the shop?’
‘I couldn’t get any work to do anywhere. I walked my legs
off looking for work. I did get a job once, but I was off for a
week because I was queer, and when I went back they said
they didn’t want me any more. You can’t blame them either,
can you? Them places, they can’t afford to have girls that
aren’t strong.’
‘You don’t look very well now,’ said Philip.
‘I wasn’t fit to come out tonight, but I couldn’t help my-
self, I wanted the money. I wrote to Emil and told him I was
broke, but he never even answered the letter.’
‘You might have written to me.’
‘I didn’t like to, not after what happened, and I didn’t
want you to know I was in difficulties. I shouldn’t have been
surprised if you’d just told me I’d only got what I deserved.’
‘You don’t know me very well, do you, even now?’
For a moment he remembered all the anguish he had suf-
fered on her account, and he was sick with the recollection