"That's only an excuse, I think. And it's a risk he'll have to take.
It's better than—than some other risks."
"What other risks? Since we've waited so long, what difference would a few weeks more make?"
She did not guess what a temptation she was putting before him. It would be so easy to make this a fork in the road from which he and she should take different ways forever, in the end leaving him free, and at little cost to her! But he fought that thought sternly.
"Shirley, can't you see what has happened to us? We've been drifting apart. We're very far apart now. You don't really want to come back at all. And I—I could easily say, 'Then don't come.' I'm capable of that just now. And you wouldn't really care."
"How can you say such a thing? Of course, I would care. I don't understand—"
"You wouldn't care or you would have come of your own accord. Shirley, I came here to coax you. I can't, now I see how little it all means to you. But— You've mentioned Davy. We've got to think of him." He looked down at the child playing between them. "I want the boy, Shirley—and I want you with him."
There was an edge to his voice that she had never heard.
"But I wouldn't think of leaving him. I—I was going back— When?"
"As soon as I can find temporary quarters for us."
"You say—I must?"