"I didn't mean—quite that," faltered Olga. "But—it won't be—it never could be—like a real engagement; could it?"
"Like, yet unlike," said Max. "It will be a sort of elastic and invisible bond, made to stretch to the utmost limit, never breaking of itself, though capable of being severed by either party at a moment's notice."
Olga drew a breath of relief. "If that is really all—"
"What more could the most exacting require?" said Max.
What indeed! Yet the phrase struck Olga somehow as being not wholly satisfactory. Perhaps even then, vaguely she began to realize that the species of bond he described might prove the most inviolable of all. But she raised no further argument, doubts notwithstanding; for, in face of his assurance, there seemed nothing left to say.
CHAPTER IX
THE PROJECT
The sound of Nick's cheery, untuneful humming seemed to invest all things with a more normal and wholesome aspect. Olga went to meet him with unfeigned delight.
He put his arm around her, flashing a swift look over her as he did it. "Well, Olga mia. I trust there has been no more bickering in my absence."
"No, I've made friends with Max," she said. "Come and have tea!"