"There, Isobel, aren't we good?" cried Vivien, with her good-night kiss to Isobel.
"Any reward?" asked Harry, as the door closed behind his fiancée.
"What do you ask?"
"A walk to the gate. And—perhaps—an explanation."
"Certainly no explanation. I don't mind five minutes' walk to the gate."
This time very little was said on the way to the gate. A constraint seemed to fall on both of them. The night felt very silent, very still; the lake stretched silent and still too, mysteriously tranquil.
At last Harry spoke. "You've forgiven me—quite?"
"Oh yes. Naturally you didn't think how—how it seemed to me. It isn't always easy to—" She paused for a moment, looking over the water. "But it's my place in life—for the present, at all events."
"It won't be for long. It can't be." He laughed. "But I must take care—compliments barred!"
"From you to me—yes."