Dennis’s room looked out on to the front of the house, and before he got into bed he set his door ajar, and the window wide, so that by no chance could he miss the sound of his father’s arrival, and, without turning off his light, sat propped up in bed, prepared for any length of vigil, for, in spite of the day-long disappointments, he was sure that Colin would look in on him when he came, and it would never do to miss that conference. There were millions of things to tell and be told, but better than any would be the fact of his father’s presence sitting here on his bed, and after ever so long a talk wishing him good night and leaving him to fall asleep with the sense of him still lingering in the room.
It was not long before he heard the crunch of the gravel beneath the wheels of the motor, and he jumped out of bed to look out of the window and call to him. But they had been equally quick in letting him in, and Dennis had no more than a glimpse of him standing in the oblong of light from the open door, before it closed again behind him. But that was of no consequence: he would be here immediately, and Dennis leaped back into bed.
The minutes passed, but very likely Colin would want something to eat after his drive from London, before he came upstairs. Soon there came along the passage a step that Dennis knew, and his eyes, sparkling with the imminent joy, were fixed on his door, to see it swing open. But the steps stopped short before they reached it, and another door a little way down the passage was opened and closed.
“I suppose he thought it was very late, and that I should be asleep,” said Dennis to himself as he put out his light.
He slept late next morning and hurried downstairs to breakfast. His father, dressed in flannels with his hair still wet from his bathe, was standing by the window, opening his letters.
“Oh, there you are at last,” said Dennis, springing to him. Colin gave him a rather absent hand.
“Hullo, Dennis,” he said.
“Hullo, Father. I say, how late you were last night, and you never came to see me.”
“No. I managed to curb my impatience till this morning,” said Colin.
“O-oh! Sarcasm! And have you been bathing? Why didn’t you fetch me?”