“It’s off,” he said, feeling secretly and utterly ludicrous. “That’s all.”
“Oh, that can’t be,” she said. “Suppose I talk to her. I shan’t be modest about you. I’ll not promise to be even truthful.”
“No use,” he said. “I’ve said everything there is to say for myself. She knows me well enough—too well, perhaps. That may be it.”
“Tell me about her. What is she like?”
“Cold. You wouldn’t think so, but she is. The fact that a man loves her means nothing—not a thing.”
“Is she so used to it?”
“I don’t know. No. That isn’t it....”
“What?”
“I was going to say selfish. I ought not to say that. I’m selfish to want her. She wants to keep her life to herself. It’s her own life.”
“But it’s only postponed. She doesn’t say no, does she?”
“Worse than that. She says—”
“Yes. What does she say?”
“She says it’s nicer as it is. We shall go on being friends. Friendship is all right. It blooms in the next world.”
“Let me talk to her, please.”
“No. It’s hopeless.”
“I’d not urge you if I weren’t so sure I could change her mind. The fact is, I think I know her.”
John started and became rigid with astonishment. He regarded her fixedly with a groping, incredulous expression. She stirred her tea very thoughtfully and kept her eyes down.
“If she’s the person I think she is,” Agnes continued, still looking down, “what you say about her is probably true. And yet—”
“Agnes! Be careful what you say.”
“I’ll be as careful as I know how to be. Trust me.”
“How long have you known her?”
“In one way, of course, you deserve to be wretched. It isn’t all on one side. Do you think it’s nice—?” “How long have you known her, I ask?” “A long time. Longer than you have,” she said.
* * * * *
Note from the society column of the New York Times, November 6, 1901:
Mr. and Mrs. Breakspeare are passing their honeymoon in Mediterranean waters on Mr. Breakspeare’s yacht, the “Damascene.”
THE END
Table of Contents
Cover Image
Title Page
Copyright
By the Same Author
Epigraph
Contents
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII
XIV
XV
XVI
XVII
XVIII
XIX
XX
XXI
XXII
XXIII
XXIV
XXV
XXVI
XXVII
XXVIII
XXIX
XXX
XXXI
XXXII
XXXIII
XXXIV
XXXV
XXXVI
XXXVII
XXXVIII
XXXIX
XL
XLI
XLII
XLIII
The Cinder Buggy Page 27