Noel sat down; but as he loosed her wrist, she laughed. This was where he sat with Leila, where they would sit when she was gone. “It's awfully funny, isn't it?” she said.
“Funny?” he muttered savagely. “Most things are, in this funny world.”
The sound of a taxi stopping not far off had come to her ears, and she gathered her feet under her, planting them firmly. If she sprang up, could she slip by him before he caught her arm again, and get that taxi?
“If I go now,” he said, “will you promise me to stop till you've seen Leila?”
“No.”
“That's foolish. Come, promise!”
Noel shook her head. She felt a perverse pleasure at his embarrassment.
“Leila's lucky, isn't she? No children, no husband, no father, no anything. Lovely!”
She saw his arm go up as if to ward off a blow. “Poor Leila!” he said.
“Why are you sorry for her? She has freedom! And she has you!”