"
"Oh, but I've taken off my gloves, and I can't stand bare arms and
shoulders here at home." She shrugged the shoulders under the thin
silken garment with which she had covered them.
"And you're not going to the Van Antwerps' at all?"
"Certainly not. I preferred to stay at home."
"Why?"
"I told you not to ask me why. But I suppose you won't talk about
anything else until you know."
She sat down opposite him before the fire, looking up at the great
branches of holly on the chimney-piece above, their scarlet berries
gleaming saucily among the rich green of their leaves. She reached up
and pulled off a spray; then she glanced at him. He was silently
surveying her. In her delicate blue gauzy gown she was something to
look at in the fire-glow.
"I wanted to spend my last evening here with you," she said.
He smiled back at her. "Three people looked in here this evening and
told me you thought you ought."
She answered indignantly: "I didn't say I ought. I didn't think it. I
wanted to. And I didn't want them to stay.
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