Well! there was obvious satisfaction in the manner in which Captain Fanshawe delivered his orders, and for herself, she had been dignified and self-denying; she had resolutely shut the door between this man and herself, and devoted herself to work, and now, since fate had thrown him in her way for a chance hour, she could enjoy herself with a light mind. It was good to talk to a man again, to hear a deep masculine voice, to look at a broad strong frame. Putting aside all question of love and marriage, the convent life is no more satisfying than the monastic. Each sex was designed by God to be the complement of the other. Each must suffer from lack of the other’s companionship.
“I arrived just as you began your performance,” Captain Fanshawe informed her. “It was a great ‘draw.’ Everybody had crowded forward to listen. It was only towards the end of your second—er—how exactly should one express it?—morceau, that I managed to get into seeing line. It was a surprise! Have you known the Willoughbys long?”
Claire looked at him blankly.
“I never saw them before to-night. Your mother wrote to ask them if they would send me a card.”
“Oh!” Captain Fanshawe was certainly surprised, and Claire mentally snubbed herself because at the bottom of her heart there had lain a suspicion that perhaps—just perhaps—he had come to-night in the hope of meeting his acquaintance of the railway station. This was not the case; no thought of her had been in his mind. Probably until the moment of meeting he had forgotten her existence. Never mind! They had met, and he was agreeable and friendly. Now for a delightful half-hour...
“That was a good thought of the mater’s. You will like them. They are delightful people. Just the people you ought to know as a stranger in town. How goes the school teaching, by the way? As well as you expected?”
Claire deliberated, with pursed lips.
“No. I expected so much; I always do. But much better than other people expected for me. Theoretically it’s a fine life. There are times when it seems that nothing could be finer. But—”
“But what?”
“I don’t think it’s quite satisfying, as a whole life!”