“Hulloa!” He looked at her intently.
“A discovery?”
“The beauty-patch has wandered. It’s at the corner of your mouth to-day.”
“Observing person! There’s a reason.” She leant nearer to whisper. “It’s a sleep-walker.”
In the midst of her high spirits she became serious. “It’s mean of me to leave you. If I’d known that it was only to see me that you’d sailed—— I couldn’t believe it—not even when you’d cabled. I ought to feel flattered. I shouldn’t think—shouldn’t think it’s often happened that a man came so far on ’spec.’”
“Perhaps never,” he said. “There was never a Desire——”
Then they felt that they had gone far enough with words, and sat catching each other’s smile in silence.
“You don’t want to go?” he asked.
“I oughtn’t to say that.” She frowned thoughtfully. “It would be ungracious to Fluffy. But I don’t want to go much.” Then, letting her hand rest on his for a second: “It’ll make our good times that are coming all the better.”
All the way to the station, like shy children, without owning to it, they were doing their best to comfort each other.