"Swine-man!" said the Colonel. "Just like him. And that man going about the country calling himself a Hammerman! Makes you sick."
CHAPTER XLIV
ERNIE LEAVES THE HOTEL
The winter came and began to go.
In February the celandine peeped in the beech-woods in the coombe, and the Lords and Ladies began to unfurl their leaves, while in the little garden in Rectory Walk daffodils made a brave show.
All through the dark months Ernie had only caught an occasional glimpse of Ruth. Now he lost sight of her entirely.
One afternoon Céleste stopped him on the Third Floor.
She looked at him curiously, with a touch of gauche diffidence he had never marked in her before.
"Was you very fond of her then, Ernie?" she asked quietly.
"Who?" he inquired, surprised.