"And so?"
"And so I did not attempt to check his imagination." She repeated the conversation of the afternoon. "I meant to speak of it at dinner, Andie, to you and Greg, but I forgot."
"Here's a far traveller—" He paused. She looked up, and quickly looked down.
"—who gives thanks that you forgot, Marie, in that first glad hour, Mr. Necker and his—well, his possible mission."
"You know something of him, then, Andie?"
"I'm still guessing. But I'm wondering now if you said to yourself when he had gone: 'After all, what will Greg get out of this government work? Is it fair to himself to refuse those great offers and stick down here? And what will it mean to young Greg?'"
Marie Welkie let the ensign drop onto the table. "My very thoughts in words, Andie. And while we're speaking of it, will Greg ever get the recognition due him, Andie?"
"Surely—some day."
"Dear me, that some day! After he is dead, I suppose. You men are the idealists! But being only a woman, Andie Balfe, I don't want to wait that long to see my brother rewarded."
"And being only a man, Marie Welkie, I also want to see my friend rewarded before he's laid away."