10

After breakfast there came a lull of sorts and he felt that he could wait no longer.

“What was in the letter last night? Do you propose to keep it secret? I ought to go see her again today, but I am not feeling at all well myself. So I ought to get off a note.”

He did not seem to care a great deal, and she was beginning to feel a little foolish.

“Oh, think up some elegant excuse. Tell her you went hiking in the mountains and caught cold.”

“That was not funny, and I see no need for elegance. You think I am like all the others, do you? Our friends here have always thought me a queer old stick, and these insinuations must strike them as rather far from the mark. But the letter—where is it?”

She was in no hurry. They talked of this and that, and had their naps, and it was evening.