“James is developing quite a taste for repartee,” observed Vickers.
Nellie rose, put out the light under the kettle, and began to draw on her gloves. “We must start now,” she said.
“Now, or never,” said Vickers.
They were half-way down the drive before Nellie asked in the most matter-of-fact tone, “Are the bags in?”
He nodded.
“Mine, too?”
“Yours, too, Nellie. Weak-kneed that I am, when I felt it in my hand, I said a brave man would leave this one behind, but—I put it in.”
Catching his eye, she smiled. “That was very kind of you,” she said, “for I, you know, have not spent half my life traveling without my things.”