It was not until his name appeared in the Roll of Honour as "missing" that Barbara appreciated how eagerly discussed she and Jack had been. The discreet sympathy of her relations would have been bewildering if Lady Knightrider had not explained it.
"I hurried round the moment I had the news! My darling child, you've got to be very brave!" she faltered. "I know what you and Jack were to each other."
"Aunt Kathleen, I don't think I can talk about this," Barbara interrupted quietly.
"No...? It sometimes helps. I was always very fond of dear Jack, and you know how I love you! But I only came to tell you that you mustn't give up hope——"
"Thank you, dear!"
Barbara realized suddenly that she was being forced into an assumed intimacy which would have been comic at any other time. It was impossible, however, to begin explaining to Lady Knightrider.
"Did you see him when he was home on leave?" her aunt continued with the persistency of one who, having come to harrow and to be harrowed, did not propose to be baulked.
"I've not seen him since that time a year ago."
"Ah, no! You've both been so busy. His poor parents——"