She gave a glad start, and ran up to him. So I followed, of course. I wanted to put some flannels into his trunk, which stood in his bedroom. The doors were open between us. He had a bundle of her letters tied up in a bulky packet, and began to talk with great discretion.
'I have been putting my affairs in order,' said the systematic young man. 'I may never come back, and at any rate, my absence will be long. I thought it would be better to give you these, lest they fall into alien hands.'
'Why not burn them?' suggested his listener.
'I could not, Leo.'
'I am not so sentimental,' she returned, taking up the packet. 'They shall blaze directly. Do you want your own?'
'Oh, Fred, what a bungler you are!' I thought.
'You misunderstand,' he began, in a desperate tone.
'Fred!' I screamed, as if I were twenty rods distant, 'do come and open this bureau drawer. I can't move it.'
He came, pulling it open, with such needless strength, that all the toilette bottles garnishing the top were shaken off, and lay in fragments on the floor. She followed to note the disaster, and I took her down stairs, and watched over her like a dragon all that evening. I would not let Leonora go to the steamer with us, but compelled him to say farewell in my presence, I like a scene. He held her hand long, uttering some incoherent sentences. Admirable was the self-composure she showed! The delicate muscles about the mouth were as steady as if she did not love him. She never raised her eyes until the last. As I saw their sad beauty, a pang seized me, and I turned away. He came after, hurried me into the carriage, and off we whirled.
'Are you going to write to her?' I asked.