“I don't think so.”
“Don't you want to know what I am doing in Washington?”
“That's fairly clear, isn't it?”
“You are being rather cruel, Clay.”
He hesitated. He was amazed at his own attitude. Then, “Will you dine with me to-night?”
“I kept this evening for you.”
But when he saw her, his sense of discomfort only increased. Their dining together was natural enough. It was not even faintly clandestine. But the new restraint he put on himself made him reserved and unhappy. He could not act a part. And after a time Audrey left off acting, too, and he found her watching him. On the surface he talked, but underneath it he saw her unhappiness, and her understanding of his.
“I'm going back, too,” she said. “I came down to see what I can do, but there is nothing for the untrained woman. She's a cumberer of the earth. I'll go home and knit. I daresay I ought to be able to learn to do that well, anyhow.”
“Have you forgiven me for this afternoon?”
“I wasn't angry. I understood.”