“But I do mind.” She picked up the bundle, with its wide, delicate flowers and sword-like leaves, and carried it against her breast, making the front of her bodice dark with moisture.
As they went along in the watery sun she shivered.
“You’ve caught cold. I——”
“Told me so. I haven’t caught cold. But I have saved from utter ruin the gown which took you some pains to design.”
Then she added, catching his loose hand in hers:
“I only say stupid things. I get a little tired of being different, that is all; no doubt other people get just as tired of being the same.”
They were in sight of their cottage gate. Three-year-old Betty, their only child, was hanging over it, hauling a kitten round the middle. Adeline pulled up in the shadow of the irregular hazel hedge.
“You promise?”
Her eyes were half mirthful, half tragic.
“Promise what?”