Millie turned back to the window.
"I do not think that I shall leave London this winter," she said. "You see, I have only just got into the house."
"It might spare you some annoyance," Pamela suggested.
"I don't understand," said Millie.
"The annoyance of having to explain Tony's absence. He will very likely have returned by the spring."
Millie shrugged her shoulders.
"I have borne that annoyance for two years," she replied. "I do not think I shall go away this winter."
Was Millie thinking of Callon's return? Pamela wondered. Was it on his account that she decided to remain? Pamela could not ask the question. Her plan had come to naught, and she returned that afternoon to Leicestershire.
Christmas passed, and half-way through the month of January Callon called, on a dark afternoon, at Millie Stretton's house. Millie was alone; she was indeed expecting him. When Callon entered the room he found her standing with her back to the window, her face to the door, and so she stood, without speaking, for a few moments.
"You have been a long time away," she said, and she looked at him with curiosity, but with yet more anxiety to mark any changes which had come in his face.