Peter was silent a moment, his eyes bent on the ground. Then he raised his head suddenly as though he had just come to a decision.
"I'm afraid I shan't be able to come down," he said quietly.
"But you promised us!" objected Kitty. "Peter, you can't go back on a promise!"
He regarded her gravely. Then:
"Sometimes one has to do—even that."
Kitty, discerning in his refusal another facet of that "something wrong" she had suspected, clasped her hands round her knees and faced him with deliberation.
"Look here, Peter, it isn't you to break a promise without some real good reason. You say you can't come down to us at Mallow. Why not?"
He met her eyes steadily.
"I can't answer that," he replied.
Kitty remained obdurate.