When he had gone she sat down in the arm chair he had used, and stared hard at the fire. Jean came in to urge her to go to bed, but she only said:
“No; I like this room and the fire. Bring me the fish, or whatever it is, here. I will go to bed about half-past eight if you like, but not before.”
So she sat on, and in her heart she saw still the fine face, with its unspoiled freshness, and felt his presence still filling the room.
It would seem Fate had brought her and Hal together into the arena of new happenings and new feelings, for among the crowded houses of Bloomsbury, in a little high-up bedroom near the sky, Hal sat on the edge of her bed leisurely brushing her long, bright hair, and pondering a telephone message that had asked her to go for a motor ride the following Saturday.
“It means putting Amy off,” was her final cogitation, “but I think I’ll go. It will be such fun, and I’m rather sick of work.”
So, in spite of strong wills and common-sense warning, we still, as ever, let our footsteps follow the alluring paths, and go boldly forth to meet a joy, ever careless of the following sorrow that may accompany it, until the hour of shunning is past.
CHAPTER XVI
The following Friday afternoon Lorraine went out with Flip Denton in his motor, and among his first questions was:
“Well, how is the foolish falling in love progressing?”
“It is stationary. I’ve got another friend I want to keep, Flip; another friend like you.”