"Oh, yes! I like it very much."
"And yet," he said, "I don't think of you as I fancy a man would think of his mother, or even of his sister. It is rather extraordinary. It has become clear to me that you have obtained a unique place in my thought—in my regard. Well, good-night."
She looked up at him, without, however, quite meeting his eyes.
"Oh! Do you think you must go?"
"Well—yes. I have said everything that I came to say. Did you want me to stay particularly?"
"Not if you feel that you shouldn't. You've been very good to give me a whole evening, as it is."
"I'll tell you one more thing before I go."
He took another turn up and down the room, and halted frowning in front of her.
"I am thinking of making an experiment in practical social work next year. What would be your opinion of a free night-school for working boys?"
Sharlee, greatly surprised by the question, said that the field was a splendid one.