Robin looked unconvinced.  “I’d kill anyone who said anything bad about you anyway,” he said.

“I don’t think you ought to talk like that,” said Juliet, in her quiet way.

“Why not?” His eyes suddenly glowered again.

But she answered him with absolute calmness.  “Because if you mean it, it’s wrong—­very wrong.  And if you don’t mean it, it’s just foolish.”

“Oh!” said Robin.  He edged himself nearer to her.  “I like you,” he said.  “Talk some more!  I like your voice.”

“What shall I talk about?” she asked.

“Tell me about London!” he said.

“Oh, London!  My dear boy, you’d hate London.  It’s all noise and crowds and dust.  The streets are crammed with cars and people and there is never any peace.  It’s like a great wheel that is never still.”

“What do the people do?” he asked.

“They just tear about from morning till night, and very often from night till morning.  Everyone is always trying to be first and to be a little smarter than anyone else.  They think they enjoy it.”  Juliet drew a sudden hard breath.  “But they really don’t.  It’s such a whirl, such a strain, like always running at top speed in a race and never getting there.  Yes, it’s just that—­a sort of obstacle race, and the obstacles always getting higher and higher and higher.”  She stopped and uttered a deep slow sigh.  “Well, I’ve done with it, Robin.  I’m not going to get over any more.  I’ve dropped out.  I’m going to grow old in comfort.”

Robin was listening with deep interest.  “Is that why you came here?” he said.

“Yes.  I was tired out and rather scared.  I got away just in time—­only just in time.”

Something in her voice, low though it was, made him draw nearer still, massively, protectively.

“Are you-hiding from someone?” he said.

“Oh, not exactly.”  She patted his shoulder gently.  “No one would take the trouble to come and look for me,” she said.  “They’re all much too busy with their own affairs.”

His eyes sought hers again.  “You’re not frightened then any more?”

She smiled at him.  “No, not a bit.  I’ve got over that, and I’m beginning to enjoy myself.”

“Shall you stay here always?” he questioned.

“I don’t know, Robin.  I’m not going to look ahead.  I’m just going to make the best of the present.  Don’t you think that’s the best way?”

He made a wry face.  “I suppose it is—­if you don’t know what’s coming.”

“But no one knows that,” said Juliet.

He glanced at her.  His fingers, clasped about his knees, tugged restlessly at each other.  “I know what’s going to happen to me,” he said, after a moment.  “I’m going to get into a row—­with Dicky.”

“Oh, is that it?” said Juliet.  “I knew there was something the matter.”

He nodded, and suddenly she saw his chin quiver.  “I hate a row with Dicky,” he said miserably.