'Now we can talk comfortably,' she said. 'Tell me, have the rabbits eaten all your father's sheep, as Laurette says?'
'Do you remember how long it is since we parted?'
'We are just like two people in a burlesque,' said Stella, smiling. 'We fire off question after question without once answering each other.'
'Well, why don't you answer me, and sit down nearer to me, and be a little jollier?'
'But that is the point. I would not be at all jolly if I twisted my neck. Oh, I assure you it is much worse than spraining one's ankle.'
'Do you remember the day we parted so many months ago?' persisted Ritchie.
He was a man to whom rapid thought was impossible. But it was equally impossible to divert his mind from the point of view which was uppermost with him.
'Oh, heavens! yes. I remember everything,' cried Stella, with her low merry laugh—a laugh that always had a magical charm for her companion.
'You remember everything,' he repeated slowly. 'I am glad of that, for you know very well——'
He stopped abruptly. His eyes had been fixed on Stella's face intently, and he noticed that it grew cold and a trifle hard. The change made his heart heavy with apprehension.