"And couldn't you live with them?"
"No," he said coldly. "They could not make me stay."
"But aren't you fond of them?" she asked in surprise.
He was silent a moment. "Yes," he said at last, "I am fond of them—as I am fond of many other things. But there is nothing that can hold me for long."
Something within him was striving for utterance—something he had long restrained.
"And now," he went on, almost violently, "I want…." He stopped.
"You want…?"
"It is something to do with you, Kyllikki," he said earnestly, as if in warning.
"Tell me. You need not be afraid," said the girl in a low voice.
"I want to say good-bye to you—and not as friends," he said passionately.