Georgiana turned her back on the wistful grey Irish eyes.
"Can't you?" she said, and walked away, utterly hard-hearted.
* * * * * *
That evening there was a formidable leave-taking. To Freddy Cockburn it was a nightmare.
As he sat in the drawing-room being talked to by Georgiana and Mrs. Rhodes (Dolly was very silent) he grew desperate. The last precious minutes were ticking loudly, now and then marked by a warning whirr, as the grandfather's clock reproached him.
He listened to them, but all the while he was wandering backwards hand in hand with Dolly—Dolly who now sat so distantly in the window.
With a start his mind came back impatiently to the present.
"Good-bye, my dear boy. We shall hear how you get on. Your mother will write and tell us——"
"You must let me know how you manage about the stairs," said Georgiana.
They accompanied him to the door, lingering affectionately to watch him go, and behind them the great brown clock was ticking the last, last minutes reproachfully. He shook hands and waited, desperately bold.