"This afternoon we went for a walk. We were both free——"
"And now neither of you is. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!"
"Oh, Terry, do be glad."
"But you looked miserable. I thought something terrible had happened."
"So it has. It's terrible to like anyone so much." Her lips trembled. "And we're not going to waste any time apart. I shall just go and live with him, and we shall each do our own work. He teaches too, and he composes. Some day he'll be heard of, now that he has some one to believe in him. Do be glad. And won't it be lovely to be so near each other still? Next door, Terry! He is coming to see Father to-morrow, but I shall tell him to-night, only it had to be you first."
Theresa was meditative. "It seems a mad notion."
"Mad! It's perfect! To be so sure of each other, to feel so safe! Oh, Theresa, I'm ashamed of all the sillinesses I've done. Letting other men touch me, and fancying I liked them! But he knows. He knows everything. And I didn't have to tell him!"
Theresa walked to the dressing-table and studied her face in the glass.
"I wonder if Mr. Partiloe wanted me as much as that," she said. "I'm beginning to be rather sorry for him."