He was unprotestingly obedient, cheerfully impersonal throughout the walk to the Knoll. But never had she been more conscious of the quiet compulsion of his charm. Her arms ached for him. They entered the house by the side door. Instinctively Pat turned toward the conservatory, but some inexplicable revulsion of feeling checked her.
"No; not there," she said. "Let's go to the library."
No sooner had the door closed behind them, than she turned to his embrace not so much yielding to as claiming him back. After the long kiss she stood away from him, but with her hands still clinging upon his shoulders.
"That makes it seem all real again," she breathed.
"Have you grown so far away from me as that, my darling?"
"Well, I was going to marry Monty Standish, you know," she reminded him.
"Yes. Why didn't you?"
"I couldn't. You were in the way."
"Pat! That's what I've feared and dreaded more than——"