Try and help me persuade her, Nick. You see, Mrs. May, I
feel almost as if I knew you. They could talk of nobody else at Rushing
River Camp! And meeting you in this wonderful forest makes me sure we
ought to be friends, as if it was _meant_, you know."
"You're very kind," said Angela, feeling distinctly guilty, because she
did not like Carmen, and admired her only because she could not help it.
"I told you Mrs. Gaylor would want you to come to her house!" exclaimed
Nick, trying to be cordial and forget his bitter disappointment.
He too was feeling guilty. He had been even more sorry than surprised to
see Carmen, and wished her a hundred miles away. Something told him that,
if she had not interrupted him just at the critical moment, when hour and
place and mood had seemed propitious, Angela would have been kind. Such a
moment as Carmen Gaylor had spoiled might never come again. But he felt
that he was cruel and ungrateful to his loyal friend, his benefactress.
It was not her fault, he reminded himself, that she had appeared at the
wrong time. She could not have guessed that he loved Mrs. May. He ought to
be flattered because poor Carmen had started out to meet him in the
forest, instead of waiting at Wawona. The sound of her voice, with its
deep contralto, reminded him how much he owed to Mrs.
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