"Then reconstruct them," she said. "You are far too young to speak with such a note of finality."
"Some day," I answered, "I suppose I shall. At present I am content to live on, amongst the fragments. One needs only imagination. The things one dreams about are always more beautiful and perhaps more satisfying than the things one does."
Again our eyes met, and I fancied that this time she was looking a little frightened. At any rate she knew. I was sure of that.
"What an ineffective sort of proceeding!" she murmured.
A creek separated us for a few minutes. When we came together again I asked her a question.
"There is something, Lady Angela," I said, "which, if you would forgive the impertinence of it, I should very much like to ask you."
She moved her head slowly, as though giving a tacit consent. But I do not think that she was quite prepared for what I asked her.
"When are you going to marry Colonel Ray?"
She looked at me quickly, almost furtively, and I saw that her cheeks were flushed. There was a look in her eyes, too, which I could not fathom.
"The date is not decided yet," she said. "You know there is some talk of trouble in Egypt, and if so he might have to leave at a moment's notice."