"Am I goin' to stay," he asked sternly, "or shall I go home?"
As if in dramatic accord with his words, the bells jangled loudly at
the gate. Should he go or stay?
"I suppose," said Amelia faintly, "you're, goin' to stay."
Laurie laid down his cap, and pulled off his coat. He looked about
impatiently, and then, moving toward the nail by the door, he lifted
the coat to place it over that other one hanging there. Amelia had
watched him absently, thinking only, with a hungry anticipation, how
much she had needed him; but as the garment touched her husband's, the
real woman burst through the husk of her outer self, and came to life
with an intensity that was pain. She sprang forward.
"No! no!" she cried, the words ringing wildly in her own ears. "No! no!
don't you hang it there! Don't you! don't you!" She swept him aside,
and laid her hands upon the old patched garment on the nail. It was as
if they blessed it, and as if they defended it also. Her eyes burned
with the horror of witnessing some irrevocable deed.
Laurie stepped back in pure surprise. "No, of course not," said he.
"I'll put it on a chair. Why, what's the matter, Milly? I guess you're
nervous. Come back to the fire. Here, sit down where you were, and
let's talk.
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