Then there was a long pause. Max had so much to say to her that he didn't know where to begin. And in the meantime to sit near her and to watch the play of the firelight on her happy face was pleasant enough. But presently perceiving that she threw another uneasy glance in the direction of her cape, he broke the silence hastily.
"You said," began he, abruptly, "that you were not going back to the wharf. Where were you going, then?"
"I don't know," said Carrie, after a pause.
Her face had clouded again. Her manner had changed a little also; it had become colder, more reserved.
"Do you mean that—really? Or do you only mean that you don't mean to tell me, that I have no business to ask?"
"I mean just what I said—that I didn't know."
"You are going to leave Mrs. Higgs and her friends, then?" asked Max, in a tone between doubt and hope.
"Yes."
She made this answer rather by a motion of the head than by her voice.
"Well, I am very glad to hear it—very glad."