concealed even from Sheilah herself the earnestness of his feelings.
Left alone with her his first remark had been about the curtains. 'Yes, I like these better from the inside too. Ruffled muslin curtains always put me in mind of a clothes-yard in the country on a sunny Monday morning.' And his second about the chrysanthemums, 'What beauties! And to be growing in a clothes-yard too!' And his third, as he gazed slowly about him, 'So this is the tenement—the tower—the beautiful princess lives in!' And then quickly, for fear she might think he was getting personal (as perhaps he was. It was difficult not to, with Sheilah standing right here in the same room with him), he switched off. 'So Cicely Morgan is your cousin! What a coincidence!'
He stayed less than half an hour. It had been his firm intention to stay less than ten minutes—just to drop in, this first time, to prove to her there was nothing more about him to fear here in Boston than at Avidon's. But the minutes flew so! They used up the first ten discussing Cicely, and the next ten the Outsiders, and the next five the reason for his call. It was Sheilah who referred to the reason first.
'Whatever can it be of mine you are returning?'
He produced it from a side pocket.
'A book I bought for you two weeks ago, and have been borrowing since without your permission. A
