“He says he did not need to ask what was odd. He knew. It was the sudden new thing which was his—and hers. But the steeples were nearer. And a free life was what he had planned; it alone could bring him what he wanted. But he asked:
“‘Will you come with me, as he said?’
“She shook her head.
“‘Oh, no. I am not your kind.’
“‘But I love you,’ he told her then. You should have heard him speak those three words, the day he told me the story. Another man surely—not the Eric we know. He said it twice: ‘I love you.’
“‘And I you,’ the girl replied.
“‘Then come with me,’ he pleaded.
“‘No. It will pass. It cannot be the real thing. It was too quick for that.’
“She smiled, and he tried to laugh and say, without too much earnestness:
“‘Shall I come back some day?’