"Don't say when so positively! But if I should fail, Dick, I might have to take you up! It might break my faith in myself because it's a young, immature faith, but it will give me a chance, a few months of seeing whether I'm of any account. It gives me a hope."
As she spoke of her alternative a glimmer as of hope passed across the man's thin, finely moulded face but he did not let her see. He shook his head and said:
"After this the first thing I need is a drink."
"On the sideboard," she answered, "is my stock."
He walked down the room and examined the bottles, then poured out two drinks and returned with them.
"Anyhow, we'll drink to your future, whatever and wherever it may be," he said, cynical again.
"That's kind of you, but I'm afraid you'll have to drink alone."
She put the glass he had handed her on the table.
"It's the first time I've ever seen you refuse a drink."
"A record broken! That, like the rest of the old life, all belongs in Book One."