From the other end of the table Howard Brent watched her furtively whenever he had the opportunity. He was not happy over what he was intending to do, although from his point of view it was the only fair thing. Peggy ought not to be deceived by a pretense of friendship into giving her own sincere affection in return.
Several times the young man had thought of confiding in Bettina Graham and asking her to undertake the task of enlightening Peggy in his stead. Bettina, Howard realized, did not like Ralph Marshall any better than he did. But, afterwards, he had put this thought away from him, feeling that, as an actual witness to the wager between Ralph and Terry, his telling of the story would be more convincing.
As soon as they had gotten up from the table Peggy joined their only outside guest that evening. Together they walked away from the others.
But they did not go very far, as it was almost dark and turning a good deal cooler.
Peggy had put on a golden yellow sweater and, with her hair so closely bound about her head and her hands in her pockets, she had again the slightly boyish appearance characteristic of her.
But Howard Brent did not see this. To him she looked very young and sweet and ardent, with a lack both of vanity and self-consciousness which set her apart from a good many girls, but only made her more attractive to him.
“Can’t we find a place and sit down? You can’t be feeling fit enough for much of a walk,” Howard suggested.
At first Peggy shook her head, declaring she was all right, but later they went to a favorite spot near the foot of the hill and not far from the small lake. This was a favorite Camp Fire place, since it was near enough to have the rest of the Camp Fire party in sight and yet far enough away for confidences.
Peggy was not particularly interested in what Howard Brent had to say to her. He had seemed to be in the act of confiding something or other whenever they had met recently. But she had not considered deeply what the confidence could be, and really since he had asked her to give him a few minutes alone, she had not thought of the matter at all. She was much too tired.
But Peggy was always friendly and willing to listen when her friends wished to talk to her.