"Yes," said John, his tone as succinct as his monosyllable.
But girls learn early to deal with the conversational difficulties and recalcitrances of males under stress of emotion.
"It means leaving school and Riceville and--everything," said Mollie June.
John could not fail to catch the note of pitifulness in her sentence. If the prospective marriage had been with any one less dazzling than George Norman, he might have reacted more properly. As it was, he replied with a stilted impersonality which might have been caught from the bright stars shining through the bare branches under which they walked.
"You will have a very rich and brilliant life," he said.
"I suppose so," said Mollie June.
They walked on, he still obediently clutching her arm, in silence; conversation not accompaniable with laughter is so difficult an art for youth.
Presently Mollie June tried again.
"Aren't you sorry I'm leaving the school--Mr. Merriam?"
"I'm very sorry indeed," responded "Professor" Merriam. "You ought to have stayed to graduate."