“Sisters?” Kathryn laughed her mirthless but musical laugh. “You are funny, Brace!”
Then, as was her way when she lost control, Kathryn made straight for the rocks while believing she was guided by divine intuition. She faced Northrup, looking up at him from her lower level.
“I think I understand the whole matter,” she said slowly, all traces of excitement gone. “I am going to prove it. Will you marry me before you go?”
“No, Kathryn. This is a matter of principle with me.”
“You think they might not let you go––you’d have to provide for my protection?”
“No, I am not afraid of that. You’d be well provided for; I would go under any circumstances, but I will not permit you to take a leap in the dark.”
“That sounds very fine, but I do not believe it!”
The black wings that poor Jan-an had suspected under Kathryn’s fine plumage were flapping darkly now. Kathryn was awed by Northrup’s silence and aloofness. She was afraid, but still angry. What was filling her own narrow mind, she believed, was filling Northrup’s and she lost all sense of proportion.
“Is she going over there?” she asked.