Then she knocked and came in.
I made no move to shake hands, and neither did she; I merely drew out a chair for her.
"Excuse my coming like this," she said. "I asked Mrs. Henriksen to send me a message; it's nothing serious, and now I feel a little embarrassed about it, but--"
I saw that it was something serious, and my heart began to pound. Why should my heart be affected?
"This is the first time you've been in my rooms," I said, expectant and on the defensive.
"Yes. It's very nice," she said, without looking round. She began to clasp her hands and pull them apart again till the tips of her gloves projected beyond her finger tips. She was in a state of great excitement.
"Perhaps now I've done something you'll approve of?" she said, suddenly pulling off her glove.
She had a ring on her finger.
"Good," I said. It didn't affect me immediately; I was to understand more later, and merely asked:
"Are you engaged?"