"NEVER!"
Her heart sank at the change in his expression.
"Well, lodgings and things! And I paid my fees at the College."
"Yes. But how could you get--Who gave you credit?
"You see," said Ann Veronica, "my landlady kept on my room while
I was in Holloway, and the fees for the College mounted up pretty
considerably." She spoke rather quickly, because she found her
father's question the most awkward she had ever had to answer in
her life.
"Molly and you settled about the rooms. She said you HAD some
money."
"I borrowed it," said Ann Veronica in a casual tone, with white
despair in her heart.
"But who could have lent you money?"
"I pawned my pearl necklace. I got three pounds, and there's
three on my watch."
"Six pounds. H'm. Got the tickets? Yes, but then--you said you
borrowed?"
"I did, too," said Ann Veronica.
"Who from?"
She met his eye for a second and her heart failed her. The truth
was impossible, indecent. If she mentioned Ramage he might have
a fit--anything might happen. She lied. "The Widgetts," she
said.
"Tut, tut!" he said. "Really, Vee, you seem to have advertised
our relations pretty generally!"
"They--they knew, of course. Because of the Dance."
"How much do you owe them?"
She knew forty pounds was a quite impossible sum for their
neighbors. She knew, too, she must not hesitate. "Eight
pounds," she plunged, and added foolishly, "fifteen pounds will
see me clear of everything." She muttered some unlady-like
comment upon herself under her breath and engaged in secret
additions.
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