another cup, please, and something with water in it.”
Annie went, with a searching look over her shoulder. Presently, a voice out in the hall said, “Oh, good. Thank you.” The sound made him present before he walked in at the door.
“Hullo.” He lengthened the word and stressed the last syllable: a long and eloquent sentence expressing gratitude for being admitted, delight at seeing her, concern, sympathy, and relief, could not have conveyed any of them half so well. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“I should think it would be more to the point if I asked you whether you minded coming all this way for such a fraud. And flowers, too. I ought not to be able to look you in the face.”
He came up to her, surveying her with great gravity out of long blue-gray eyes. His intentness, and his unconsciousness of himself, underlined his beauty till it seemed too improbable to be true.
“Quite right,” he said. “You’re behaving very badly. You ought to be in bed. Now sit down and rest, or I shan’t stay even the minute I’m going to.” He took her by the elbows from behind, and steered her into a chair.
She subsided, and heard the cushion being patted into place behind her. Having arranged her to his satisfaction, he took the chair on the opposite side of the fire, and, leaning forward with elbows on knees, looked at her again. Becoming quite concerned on her own account. She tried to remember, unsuccessfully, whether she had done anything about her face when she came in.
“Don’t make me more ashamed of myself than I am. I’m pretty sure now it isn’t going to be flu after all. You’re going to have some tea with me, aren’t you?”
“Well, if it really won’t stop you from properly resting—” When the flowerpot arrived along with the cup, he said, “Now just you stay put, I’ll do it,” and did so, tidying up carefully after him.
“They’re magnificent. Do you grow them?”
“They’re not bad this year. As a matter of fact, these were supposed to be for the church next Sunday. Don’t tell a soul. There’s much more point in giving them to you. Haring about dying on your feet and looking after everyone except yourself.”
“For heaven’s sake. I’ve had just enough work to be good for me, for once.”
He said, thoughtfully, “You know, you quite make me wish I’d gone ahead with it myself. I did think of it, at one time.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Well, I read English. It would have meant starting more or less from scratch.”
“It’s been done. I met a man once who did it on his retiring gratuity from the Navy; he was forty when he began.”
“Really? Pretty good. The only thing is, I was never very hot on the science side.”
“So what did you decide on in the end?”
“To tell you the truth, I’ve more or less let the question lapse for the moment. You see, as they keep telling me I can’t take on anything needing sustained mental effort for at least a year, there doesn’t seem much point in getting too many ideas.”
Hilary looked up sharply. “Did Sanderson tell you that?”
“Not him actually. But it seems to be the general idea.”
“He doesn’t generally insist on that. Of course you’d need to take care physically for a bit. But you don’t want to be a middleweight champion, or anything, do you?”
He laughed. “Well, no, I don’t think so. I’d be cruiserweight, anyway. People don’t think so, but I’ve got big bones, that’s where it goes. Oh, yes, and talking of bones reminds me. I was going to ask you a bit of a favor; only I didn’t mean to today, in case you were feeling rotten.”
“What was it? How do bones come in?”
“In a big way. I was wondering if, just for one night, you could possibly see your way to lend me a skeleton.”
“A skeleton? ” She gazed at him, with bewilderment followed by inward exasperation. There he sat, charming, diffidently eager, planning heaven knew what adolescent crudity; she could not bring
Annie went, with a searching look over her shoulder. Presently, a voice out in the hall said, “Oh, good. Thank you.” The sound made him present before he walked in at the door.
“Hullo.” He lengthened the word and stressed the last syllable: a long and eloquent sentence expressing gratitude for being admitted, delight at seeing her, concern, sympathy, and relief, could not have conveyed any of them half so well. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“I should think it would be more to the point if I asked you whether you minded coming all this way for such a fraud. And flowers, too. I ought not to be able to look you in the face.”
He came up to her, surveying her with great gravity out of long blue-gray eyes. His intentness, and his unconsciousness of himself, underlined his beauty till it seemed too improbable to be true.
“Quite right,” he said. “You’re behaving very badly. You ought to be in bed. Now sit down and rest, or I shan’t stay even the minute I’m going to.” He took her by the elbows from behind, and steered her into a chair.
She subsided, and heard the cushion being patted into place behind her. Having arranged her to his satisfaction, he took the chair on the opposite side of the fire, and, leaning forward with elbows on knees, looked at her again. Becoming quite concerned on her own account. She tried to remember, unsuccessfully, whether she had done anything about her face when she came in.
“Don’t make me more ashamed of myself than I am. I’m pretty sure now it isn’t going to be flu after all. You’re going to have some tea with me, aren’t you?”
“Well, if it really won’t stop you from properly resting—” When the flowerpot arrived along with the cup, he said, “Now just you stay put, I’ll do it,” and did so, tidying up carefully after him.
“They’re magnificent. Do you grow them?”
“They’re not bad this year. As a matter of fact, these were supposed to be for the church next Sunday. Don’t tell a soul. There’s much more point in giving them to you. Haring about dying on your feet and looking after everyone except yourself.”
“For heaven’s sake. I’ve had just enough work to be good for me, for once.”
He said, thoughtfully, “You know, you quite make me wish I’d gone ahead with it myself. I did think of it, at one time.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Well, I read English. It would have meant starting more or less from scratch.”
“It’s been done. I met a man once who did it on his retiring gratuity from the Navy; he was forty when he began.”
“Really? Pretty good. The only thing is, I was never very hot on the science side.”
“So what did you decide on in the end?”
“To tell you the truth, I’ve more or less let the question lapse for the moment. You see, as they keep telling me I can’t take on anything needing sustained mental effort for at least a year, there doesn’t seem much point in getting too many ideas.”
Hilary looked up sharply. “Did Sanderson tell you that?”
“Not him actually. But it seems to be the general idea.”
“He doesn’t generally insist on that. Of course you’d need to take care physically for a bit. But you don’t want to be a middleweight champion, or anything, do you?”
He laughed. “Well, no, I don’t think so. I’d be cruiserweight, anyway. People don’t think so, but I’ve got big bones, that’s where it goes. Oh, yes, and talking of bones reminds me. I was going to ask you a bit of a favor; only I didn’t mean to today, in case you were feeling rotten.”
“What was it? How do bones come in?”
“In a big way. I was wondering if, just for one night, you could possibly see your way to lend me a skeleton.”
“A skeleton? ” She gazed at him, with bewilderment followed by inward exasperation. There he sat, charming, diffidently eager, planning heaven knew what adolescent crudity; she could not bring
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