During their talk she had absently folded the telegram. He observed it in her hand and said:
"The telegram—don't forget that, Mrs. Braddock."
Her smile was enigmatic. With a diverted smile for the waiting clerk she said: "I shall not send it, after all."
David walked with her to the door. They passed so close to Colonel Grand that David's elbow touched his arm, but neither of them looked at him. She hastily entered the waiting carriage, a sort of panic overtaking her.
Thrusting the crumpled bit of paper into David's hand, her eyes steadfastly held against the impulse to look at the satiric figure in the doorway, she said in a half-whisper:
"Take it, David—and come to-night."
He stood there with his hat in his hand as the carriage drove off, sorely perplexed by her action. Suddenly a light broke in upon his understanding. He spread out the small sheet and read:
"The five years have passed. I redeem my promise. You are not obliged to keep yours, however." It was signed "Mary Braddock."
Colonel Grand was smiling sardonically in the doorway.