It was not until she asked in a faltering undertone, "When are you going to begin?" that it came to him. And then he looked at her so long that Pete began to notice, and she had to touch his foot with hers under the table to get him to turn away. He had forgotten all about the vacation and the St. Lawrence trip.
Hilda saw, in her side glances, the gloomy expression that had settled upon his face; and she recovered her spirits first.
"It's all right," she whispered; "I don't care."
Max came up then, from a talk with James out on the stairway, and for a few moments there was no chance to reply. But after Bannon had caught Max's signals to step out of hearing of the others, and before he had risen, there was a moment when Pete's attention was drawn by one of the waiters, and he said:—
"Can you go with me—Monday?"
She looked frightened, and the blood rose in her cheeks so that she had to bend low over her pile of napkins.
"Will you?" He was pushing back his chair.
She did not look up, but her head nodded once with a little jerk.
"And you'll stay for the dinner, won't you—now?"
She nodded once more, and Bannon went to join Max.