"Not this time, Maud. Another day will do."
"Do what you are told. Open it."
He obeyed.
"Fill both glasses and stand up."
"What madness are you after?"
"I said, stand up. That's right. Now hear what I have to say." She lifted up her glass. She stood by the light of the window, but outside side darkness was falling fast.
"Drink, Jim, for these glasses have been filled in honour of the past as we have lived it, and of the future as it shall be shaped. The grape ferments, and the red wine results; lovers quarrel and good understanding is born. The orchard blossoms, the blossoms fall to the ground, but from the boughs come forth the fruit. Love arrives with spiced dishes, but when the meats have staled, on the table lies the bread of life. We are learning understanding; but other pages of that book remain for our reading. Drink to receive the clean heart, the straight purpose, and the good comradeship which walks with those things. Let cowardice be unknown between us. The mistake made, we will bare it in our hands, knowing the other will understand."
Who knows what Power saw in that ruddy wine drunk in the darkened room? He pledged the toast to the end. With never a word more between them they put down their glasses.
"The others are in the verandah," Maud said to break the spell, "you must talk to them for half-an-hour. Come along."