"How soon do you expect him?" asked Barbara.
"Oh, I don't think anything's been decided yet. And you know how long these things take.… Eric, if I'd had any idea how late it was …!"
He accompanied her to the door and returned to find Barbara still standing, still in her cloak. The flicker of animation which she had presented on meeting Agnes had died down, and she was again the sport of man and the plaything of fate.
"I like her, Eric," she remarked thoughtfully. "Why don't you marry her? Any one can see she's in love with you."
"You're the only person in the world I want to marry," he answered.
Barbara's face twisted in a spasm of pain.
"God! How it hurts when you say that! Eric, I shall make you miserable and be miserable myself! I love you; you know I love you! But I don't want to marry you. Why don't you forget me? Go away——"
"Forget you!" Eric gripped her by the shoulders. "What d'you think would be left, if I lost you?"
Her eyes opened wide with wonder.
"You can't love me as much as that, Eric!"