“They will be left pinned. I do not wish to re-read the past. I need all my strength and thought for the ever-present now.”
“Do you mean to say, that you do not intend giving any backward glances?”
“All that is not pleasant I have shut away in those leaves.”
“Then I may infer that the leaf you have turned down for reference, has something agreeable written there?”
Kate made no reply.
“To be but a leaf in your book, brings a sense of delight to me. Pray let me know if I am fast in the binding, or whether I am liable to become lost, strayed, or stolen. Sometimes I feel as if I were all three,” said the doctor, with an earnestness in his voice, that made the blood fly to Kate’s cheeks. Yet evading his real meaning, she said, with mock pity:
“Poor fellow! That is homesickness. Homesickness is a very unpleasant feeling.”
“Especially if you have no home, but are merely existing?”
“Don’t you call Kimberley home?”
“Did you ever meet anyone there who did?” asked the doctor.