"And the ring, Dodo?" he said, with a sigh of relief, leaning over and touching her hand.
It was as if a sudden blast of cold air had been let in. She drew back.
"I can't tell you of that now," she said hastily. "When you have the right—and that depends on you—I will tell you, for it is something that I am very glad of!"
"Dodo, I must know. I can't go on like this! I simply can't."
"Neither can I!" she said, with a sudden lump in her throat. "Don't you see how I am going to pieces? Don't you know why I do such wild crazy things? Oh, if I were only sure of you!"
"If I could be sure of you!" he retorted bitterly.
"What would you do?" she asked, grasping his arm eagerly. "Would you do as I wish? Would you dare?"
"Dodo, I wish to be divorced and to marry you!" he said abruptly.
She shrank from him with a cry of disappointment. She sought romance, uncalculated and overwhelming; she wished to hear him, driven beyond himself, crying tempestuous words in her ears, ready for any sacrifice; and instead, he was concerned with planning a conventional solution.
"No, no!" she cried, bitterly disillusioned. "Oh, you don't love me as I love you, if you can think only of that!"