"I didn't think you knew I'd been away," he said sulkily.
"Not know you had been away?" The innocent wonder of her tone was unsurpassable.
"I hadn't seen you for a long time when I went. Have you forgotten that?"
"A long time?" she smiled. "Two days, wasn't it?"
"It seemed a week to me."
Now she had trembled during his absence, and though she was as far as ever from knowing whether she wished to marry him, she knew at least that she did not wish to avert his asking her. So she shot a glance at him before her eyes were lowered, and said:
"One can't always do as one likes, you know."
A platitude and a pair of eyes are sometimes potent. He walked on beside her mollified.
"What about the concert?" he inquired. "I've saved the box for you."
"Oh, have you?" she stammered. "I don't quite know. I'm afraid——Have you really saved it?"