'No,' she said firmly.
'Why not?' he asked.
'I have no reason except that I love him.'
'What are you going to do?'
'I don't know.'
Bobbie got up, kissed her gently, and went out. She did not see him again, and in a day or two she heard that he had gone away.
Lucy made up her mind that she must see Alec before he went, but a secret bashfulness prevented her from writing to him. She was afraid that he would refuse, and she could not force herself upon him if she knew definitely that he did not want to see her. But with all her heart she wanted to ask his pardon. It would not be so hard to continue with the dreary burden which was her life if she knew that he had a little pity for her. He could not fail to forgive her when he saw how broken she was.
But the days followed one another, and the date which Julia, radiant with her own happiness, had given her as that of his departure, was approaching.
Julia, too, was exercised in mind. After her conversation with Alec she could not ask him to see Lucy, for she knew what his answer would be. No arguments, would move him. He did not want to give either Lucy or himself the pain which he foresaw an interview would cause, and his wounds were too newly-healed for him to run any risks. Julia resolved to take the matter into her own hands. Alec was starting next day, and he had promised to look in towards the evening to bid them good-bye. Julia wrote a note to Lucy, asking her to come also.
When she told Dick, he was aghast.