“Hadn’t you seen that I wanted to share all your trouble about it?” she asked.  “That was what hurt me—­because I couldn’t!”

Ransford drew a long breath and looked at her.  Then he put his hands on her shoulders.

“Mary!” he said.  “You—­you don’t mean to say—­be plain!—­you don’t mean that you can care for an old fellow like me?”

He was holding her away from him, but she suddenly smiled and came closer to him.

“You must have been very blind not to have seen that for a long time!” she answered.