“Then, I’m afraid it must stop where it is,” she said. “Good night.”
He turned with a frown to her.
“Oh, Maud, you fool!” he said. “Why don’t you take it while I can just manage to allow you to?”
“Because you must give it me like a pretty gentleman, of course,” she said.
Ah! how pleasant and human were the dealings of love! Half an hour ago tragedy, sordid, bitter, and heart-breaking, had been hers, and now not only was comedy here, but sheer farce, mirthful and ridiculous, productive of childish laughter. Thurso laughed, too, as he bent down and picked up the key.
“You are an obstinate woman,” he said.
“I know. Thank you, darling. Oh, Thurso, how much better it is than the time I threw the bottle away without your knowing! Now you give it me.”
She unlocked the despatch-box.
“Thurso, what a big bottle!” she said; “and half empty. How greedy!”
But the sight of it kindled his desire again, and it flamed up.