She sighed, gathered her silken knees into her arms, and shrugged her shoulders like a spoiled child.
"I am lonely," she insisted. "I miss Ariadne."
"We'll go and call on her tomorrow——"
"I want her now. I've a mind to put on a cloak and some shoes and go down to the inn and get her."
"Come!" he said. "You don't want the servants to hear you and see you sitting on the stairs when the household is in bed and asleep."
"Is there any indiscretion in my sitting on the stairs?"
"Oh, no, I suppose not!"
"Very well. Let me sit here, then. Besides, I never have time enough to talk to you——"
"You have all day!"
"The day is not long enough. Even day and night together would be too short. Even the years are going to be too brief for me, Jim! How can I live long enough with you to make up for the years without you!" she explained a trifle excitedly; but she subsided as he made a quick gesture of caution.