Thirty minutes later he was in the familiar room behind the pawnshop.

The Duchess asked him if he had eaten, and on his reply that he had not and did not care to, instead of proceeding to the business of her letter she mumbled something and went into the pawnshop.
She left Larry for the very simple reason that now that she had him here she was uncertain what she should say, and how far she should go.
Unknown to either, one thread of the drama of Larry and Maggie was being spun in the brain and heart of the Duchess; and being spun with pain to her, and in very great doubt.

True, she had definitely decided, for Larry's welfare, that the facts about Maggie's parentage should never be known from her--and since the only other person who could tell the truth was Jimmie Carlisle, and his interests were all apparently in favor of silence, then it followed that the truth would never be known from any one.

But having so decided, and decided definitely and finally, the Duchess had proceeded to wonder if she had decided wisely.
Day and night this had been the main subject of her thought.

Could she be wrong in her estimate of Maggie's character, and what she might turn out to be?
Could she be wrong in her belief that, given enough time, Larry would outgrow his infatuation for Maggie?
And since she was in such doubt about these two points, had she any right, and was it for the best, to suppress a fact that might so gravely influence both matters?
She did not know.