The morning after her arrival Mimi had a long talk with her aunt.
“You’ve had a hard time, Mimi,” the older woman said. “You’ve made what people call a serious mistake—it’s not for me to judge you nor am I going to. If you did, you’ve paid for it—and you’ve done a mighty brave thing, to my way of thinking, in sticking it out as you have. Your problem now as I see it is to forget the past and decide what you’re going to do with your future. You’re young yet—just twenty-one, aren’t you?—you’re much better-looking than the average. The best part of your life’s ahead of you. The question you’ve got to decide is what you’re going to do with it, make it fruitful and full and happy? Or let the past swallow you up?”
She paused while Mimi sat in thought.
“Jean—and his future count much more than mine, Aunt Sophie.”
“Yes, I know how you feel. What I’m going to say may sound mighty hard and