“I'd love it,” she said. “In the park?”
“Wait a moment.” Then: “Yes, Jinx says the park is right.”
His wholesome nonsense was good for her. She drew a long breath.
“You are precisely the person I need to-day,” she said. “And come soon, because I shall have to be back at five.”
When he came he was very neat indeed, and most scrupulous as to his heels being polished. He was also slightly breathless.
“Had to sew a button on my coat,” he explained. “Then I found I'd sewed in one of my fingers and had to start all over again.”
Lily was conscious of a change in him. He looked older, she thought, and thinner. His smile, when it came, was as boyish as ever, but he did not smile so much, and seen in full daylight he was shabby. He seemed totally unconscious of his clothes, however.
“What do you do with yourself, Willy?” she asked. “I mean when you are free?”
“Read and study. I want to take up metallurgy pretty soon. There's a night course at the college.”
“We use metallurgists in the mill. When you are ready I know father would be glad to have you.”