All her old ideas and training rose up and kept her from finishing the sentence “because she has had two other husbands.”
“If Gloria had married one hundred men I would still want her—don’t you understand that?” He spoke almost fiercely. “But you don’t understand—you’re too young; it isn’t that; but Gloria doesn’t love me. If she did she would tell me so. She knows that I love her and she has shown very plainly that she doesn’t want my love. I appreciate your kindness,” he went on in a calmer tone, “but don’t trouble any more—what is written is written and can’t be changed no matter how one tries.”
“If I give you my word of honour that Gloria does love you, what then? She told me so—she does know that you love her, but she thinks you don’t—she thinks the husbands make a difference. She doesn’t believe that a man could understand that they were just—just incidents.”
Neither laughed at the idea of this twenty-year old girl speaking of two husbands as incidents, though later Ruth remembered it herself, and thought it rather funny.
He did not answer,—he was standing quite rigidly, staring at the door, and, turning, Ruth saw Gloria approaching them:
“I’m sorry; I thought you were alone, Ruth,” she said and hesitated as if she would have gone back.
“I’ve just remembered,” said Pendragon, “that the small star Eros is supposed to be visible again about this time, but we have no telescope. Ruth has not found it, though she has young eyes— Perhaps you and I, together, Gloria—if we looked very closely—”
Under the clear starlight she saw them in each other’s arms. There was one very bright star, that seemed to hang lower in the sky than winter stars are wont to hang. Surely it was the star of love, though doubtless no astronomer had ever named it so. She did not know exactly where she was going when she left them there, but she was very happy. And then halfway down the stairs she sat down because her happiness was overflowing from her eyes in tears and she couldn’t see, and suddenly she felt very tired. It was there that Terry, ascending, found her.
“I say—what’s wrong? You’re crying. I saw you with Pendragon—has he done anything to hurt you? I’ll—”
“No-it’s not that—I’m crying because I’m so happy—”