"To be married? To be married to Ralph Bevan? Oh, Barbara, why didn't you tell me?"
"Ralph didn't want me to, till nearer the time."
"The time…. Did it come to that?"
"It did," said Barbara.
He moved from the doorway and began walking up and down the room. She might now have gone out, but she didn't go. She had to see what he would make of it.
At his last turn he faced her and stood still.
"Poor child," he said, "so that's what I've driven you to?"
Amazement kept her silent.
"Sit down," he said, "we must go through this together."
Amazement made her sit down. Certainly they must go through it, to see what he would look like at the end. He was unsurpassable. She mustn't miss him.