“No, Tim, not now. Don't you see, now that I know he cares for me—everything is altered. I'm not free, now. In a way, I belong to him. Oh! How can I explain? Even though we may never marry, there is a faithfulness of the spirit, Tim. It's—it's the biggest part of love, really——”
She broke off, and presently she felt Tim's hands on her shoulders.
“I think I understand, dear,” he said gently. “It's just what I should expect of you. It means the end of everything—everything that matters for me. But—somehow—I would not have you otherwise.”
He did not stay very long after that. They talked together a little, promising each other that their friendship should still remain unbroken and unspoilt.
“For,” as Tim said, “if I cannot have the best that the world can give—your love, Sara, I need not lose the second best—which is your friendship.”
And Sara, watching him from the window as he strode away down the little tiled path, wondered why love comes so often bearing roses in one hand and a sharp goad in the other.
CHAPTER XXI
THE PITILESS ALTAR
Elisabeth was pacing restlessly up and down the broad, flagged terrace at Barrow, impatiently awaiting Tim's return from Monkshaven.