"But I must go all the same," she reflected. "If I give in this time, I can never call my soul my own again."
She left for Virginia two days later, taking Bobby with her. She and Loring had not quite "made up" before she left. They were very polite to each other. Sophy's heart felt sore. This attitude of his was spoiling her visit home. She thought that he would surely soften before the train drew out. But he did not.
He lifted his hat as the engine began its hoarse starting cough.
"Well—so long," he said. "A happy May to you!"
Sophy felt a proud impulse to reply in kind. Then the sad influence of parting, even for so short a time, melted her. She put her head from the window.
"You'll come down to Virginia to fetch me back, won't you, dear?" she asked.
"Don't know. Depends on how the games go," he answered curtly. "I'll——"
The chuff-chuff of the moving engine drowned the rest of the sentence.