Guy Maynard paused a moment before he pressed the doorbell. He'd been missing a long time, and he wondered just how Laura Greggor would greet him. He hoped her eagerness would match his, at least, and with that prayer he rang.
Laura came to the door herself, which lifted Guy's heart. She took him by the hand and drew him in, saying: "Teemens is busy mixing a cocktail. I had to answer myself."
Guy wanted to say "Oh" but didn't. He knew that the tone of his voice would have betrayed his feelings. And then he lifted his feelings again by main force. After all, Laura was no schoolgirl. There was no reason why she should be carried away by any cheap melodrama. She believed him to be an M-12 and as such he was doing a job. He wished he could tell her the truth; perhaps then she would be more emotional in her greeting.
So after a solid year of semi-loneliness, Guy was greeted with a carefree: "You've been gone a long time, Guy. I'm glad to see you."
"I'm more than just glad to see you," said Guy earnestly. He gave her hand an affectionate squeeze and then tried a gentle urge towards him. It was almost unnoticeable, that attempt to draw her to him; and had he not met with instant and opposite reaction—
He sighed, relinquished her hand, and then handed her the small box he held under the other arm.
Laura looked at the corsage and then said: "Wait a moment, Guy. I want to run in and put this in my hair. Make yourself comfortable."
Guy entered the large drawing room and looked around slightly in wonder. It was the same—but he hadn't remembered it as being so large. Everything was as immaculate as ever and Guy felt slightly out of place there. He knew that he was expected to sit down, but that old feeling of wondering which piece to sit upon came back to him.