“You knocked us flat; the lot of us,” she said. “Wint, you pretty near killed me. You darned, decent kid.”
Wint stirred uneasily.
“I thought I’d die,” she said. Her voice shook, though she was smiling. “I....” She laughed. “You ought to have seen the others.”
He asked awkwardly: “What happened? I haven’t heard.”
“Didn’t your father—”
“No. I stayed at the Weaver House last night.”
She laughed. “Oh, you. Leave it to you. To think of the fool thing to do.”
He said soberly: “I was in earnest, Hetty. I meant what I said.”
She nodded. “Sure you did. You’re just a big enough fool to go through with it, too.”
“Of course.”