He has been to the shop." "And you like him ?" Again she hesitated.

"Yes, I like him." Turning her head, she looked straight at him with a glow in her eyes.

"That is," she corrected softly, "I should like him if it were not for John." "You compare him with John ?" "Don't you ?" "Naturally.

Of course the Governor loses by that." "Who wouldn't ?" Her face flushed at the thought, and as Stephen watched her, he asked in a gentler voice, "Are you really to be married in June ?" She smiled an assent, with her dreaming gaze on the young leaves and the blue sky.
"Are you happy ?" he persisted.
Her smile answered him again.

"One dreads the lonely fireside as one grows older." Then suddenly, as if the shadow of a cloud had drifted over the bright sky, he saw the smile fade from her lips and the glow from her upraised eyes.