"She didn't tell me so exactly. We were talking about it—we've all talked of it more than you suppose—and Miss Ansley said that you couldn't be what you are unless you were—somebody."
He tried to take this jocosely. "No, of course I couldn't."
"Oh, but I know what she meant." She moved away from him, speaking over her shoulder as she crossed the blueberry scrub, "It was more than what's in the words."
XXXVII
Except for a passing glimpse in Dublin, Tom never saw Lily Whitelaw till in December he met her at the ball at which Hildred Ansley came out. As to going to this ball he had his usual fit of funk, but Hildred had insisted.
"But, Tom, you must. You're the one I care most about."
"I shouldn't know what to do."
"I'll see to that. You'll only have to do what I tell you."