He did not trust himself to look into her eyes.
His hand stole from his pocket to the crevice at the back of the chair. He pushed the lucite egg out of sight. Then he stood up.
"Don't go yet, Norm," Gunnison told him. "There's a lot we should talk about."
"Yes, why don't you stay?" Mrs. Gunnison seconded.
"Sorry," said Norman. "I'll come around this afternoon if you can spare the time. Or tomorrow morning, at the latest."
"Be sure and do that," said Gunnison seriously. "The trustees are meeting tomorrow afternoon."
Mrs. Gunnison sat down in the chair he had vacated.
"My regards to Tansy," she said. "I'll be seeing her tonight at the Carr's—that is, if she's recovered sufficiently."
And to know that Tansy's soul was listening to the thoughts behind those words, in complete intimacy—He walked out rapidly and shut the door behind him.
While his hand was still on the knob, he saw Mrs. Gunnison's green purse lying on the table and, beyond it, the display case of items in physical chemistry. In that one long moment he smashed the plan he had been contemplating and built a new one.