"How horribly polite we are getting!" she said.
He laid his hand for an instant on her shoulder.
"I shall come again, Chirpy," he said.
She nodded carelessly, not looking at him.
"Yes, mind you do. I dare say I shan't be having any other visitors at present."
But though her manner was perfectly friendly, Rivington was conscious of that unwonted constraint during the rest of his visit. He even fancied on the morrow that she bade him farewell with relief.
VIII
THE MEETING IN THE MARKET-PLACE
Two days later, Ernestine drove with the miller's wife to market at Rington, five miles distant. She had never seen a country market, and her interest was keen. They started after an early breakfast on an exquisite summer morning. And Ernestine carried with her a letter which she had that day received from Rivington.
"Dear Chirpy," it ran, "I hasten to write and tell you that now I am back in town again I am most hideously bored. I am, however, negotiating for a studio, which fact ought to earn for me your valued approval. If, for any reason, my presence should seem desirable to you, write or wire, and I shall come immediately.—Your devoted