"She's always coming hack. But she'll go away again. Where is she?"
"I'm here, Papa dear."
"Here one minute," said the Vicar, "and gone the next."
"No—no. I'm not going. I shall never go away and leave you."
"So you say," said the Vicar. "So you say."
He looked round uneasily.
"It's time for Ally to go to bed. Has Essy brought her milk?"
His head bowed to his breast. He fell into a doze. Ally watched.
And in the outer room Gwenda and Steven Rowcliffe talked together.
"Steven—he's always going on like that. It breaks my heart."