"Go ahead, little girl. I will run home, too. I forgot something. I will be down right away."
Going home, I may have walked on Cliff Street, but my head was in the clouds, and all the songs that the morning-stars sing together—all the music of the spheres—was playing itself out for me in the shadowy twilight as I went along.
At the gate Aunt Candace and my father were waiting for me.
"You needn't wait," I cried. "I will be there presently."
"Oh, joined the regular army this time," my father said, smiling. "Sorry we can't keep you, Phil." But I gave no heed to him.
"Aunt Candace," I said in a low voice. "May I see you just a minute? I want to get something."
"It's in the top drawer in my room, Phil. The key is in the little tray on my dresser," Aunt Candace said quietly. She always understood me.
When I reached the Whately home, Marjie was waiting for me at the gate. I took her little hand in my own strong big one.
"Will you wear it again for me, dearie?" I asked, holding up my mother's ring before her.
"Always and always, Phil," she murmured.