Tenterhooks

by Ada Leverson

'How?'

'By not working, I suppose.'

'You're wonderful. And that blue….'

'Do you really think so?'

He was beginning to get carried away. He stood up and looked out of the window. The pink and white hyacinths were strongly scented in the warm air. He turned round.

She said demurely: 'It will be nice weather for you to go away now, won't it?'

'I don't think so.' He spoke impulsively. 'I shall hate it; I shall be miserable.'

'Really!' in a tone of great surprise.

'You're dying to ask me something,' he said.

'Which am I dying to ask you: where you're going, or why you're going?' She gave her most vivid smile. He sat down with a sigh. People still sigh, sometimes, even nowadays.