'I must speak to Ronald first--not Ronald to me--that
is all!'
'Then, please, go and speak to him at once!' she pleaded. He is
there--do you see?--at the upper end of the room, talking to that
girl in pink.'
'And so lose this seat before I have told you my good news?' I
exclaimed. 'Catch me! And, besides, my dear one, think a little
of me and my good news! I thought the bearer of good news was
always welcome! I hoped he might be a little welcome for himself!
Consider! I have but one friend; and let me stay by her! And
there is only one thing I care to hear; and let me hear it!'
'Oh, Anne,' she sighed, 'if I did not love you, why should I be so
uneasy? I am turned into a coward, dear! Think, if it were the
other way round--if you were quite safe and I was in, oh, such
danger!'
She had no sooner said it than I was convicted of being a dullard.
'God forgive me, dear!' I made haste to reply. 'I never saw
before that there were two sides to this!' And I told her my tale
as briefly as I could, and rose to seek Ronald. 'You see, my dear,
you are obeyed,' I said.
She gave me a look that was a reward in itself; and as I turned
away from her, with a strong sense of turning away from the sun, I
carried that look in my bosom like a caress. The girl in pink was
an arch, ogling person, with a good deal of eyes and teeth, and a
great play of shoulders and rattle of conversation.
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