He had followed her like a dog; and as if he had been a dog her hand patted a place on the couch beside her.  And because he was a fool and foredoomed he took it.

There was a silence.  Then suddenly he made up his mind.

“Adeline, I’m very sorry, but I find I’ve got to go to-morrow.”

“Go?  Up to town?”

“Yes.”

“But—­you’re coming back again.”

“I’m—­afraid—­not.”

“My dear John, you haven’t been here a week.  I thought you were going to stay with us till your leave was up.”

“So did I. But I find I can’t.”

“Whyever not?”

“Oh—­there are all sorts of things to be seen to.”

“Nonsense, what do you suppose Robert will say to you, running off like this?”

“Robert will understand.”

“It’s more than I do.”

“You can see, can’t you, that I’m going because I must, not because I want to.”

“Well, I think it’s horrid of you.  I shall miss you frightfully.”

“Yes, you were good enough to say I amused you.”

“You’re not amusing me now, my dear ...  Are you going to take Anne away from me too?”

“Not if you’d like to keep her.”

“Of course I’d like to keep her.”

He paused, brooding, wrenching one of his lean hands with the other.

“There’s one thing I must ask you—­”

“Ask, ask, then.”

“I told you Anne would care for you if you gave her time.  She does care for you.”

“Yes.  Odd as it may seem, I really believe she does.”

“Well—­don’t let her be hurt by it.”

“Hurt?  Who’s going to hurt her?”

“You, if you let her throw herself away on you when you don’t want her.”

“Have I behaved as if I didn’t want her?”

“You’ve behaved like an angel.  All the same, you frighten me a little.  You’ve a terrible fascination for the child.  Don’t use it too much.  Let her feelings alone.  Don’t work on them for the fun of seeing what she’ll do next.  If she tries to break away don’t bring her back.  Don’t jerk her on the chain.  Don’t—­amuse yourself with Anne.”

“So that’s how you think of me?”

“Oh, you know how I think.”

“Do I?  Have I ever known?  You say the cruellest things.  Is there anything else I’m not to do to her?”

“Yes.  For God’s sake don’t tease her about Jerrold.”

“My dear John, you talk as if it was serious.  I assure you Jerrold isn’t thinking about Anne.”

“And Anne isn’t ‘thinking’ about Jerrold.  They don’t think, poor dears.  They don’t know what’s happening to them.  None of us know what’s happening to us till it happens.  Then it’s too late.”

“Well, I’ll promise not to do any of these awful things if you’ll tell me, honestly, why you’re going.”

He stared at her.

“Tell you?  You know why.  I am going for the same reason that I came.  How can you possibly ask me to stay?”