It was then
that he said he was determined to obey "doctor's orders." No city
streets for him! Even SHE couldn't entice him! He loved every inch
of this charming, restful spot,--every tree and every stone,--and
he would not leave it until the time came for him to go away forever.
He was very well satisfied with the fruits of this apparently
ungracious refusal. She went to the city less frequently than before,
and only when it was necessary. This, he decided, was significant.
It could have but one meaning.
Her dog, Sergeant, did not like him.
CHAPTER IX
A MID-OCTOBER DAY
One chilly, rainy afternoon in mid-October Courtney appeared at the
house on the knoll half an hour earlier than was his custom. Alix
was expecting friends down from the city for tea. From the hall
where he was removing his raincoat he had a fair view through
an open door of the north end of the long living-room. Logs were
blazing merrily in the fireplace. Alix was standing before the fire,
tearing a sheet of paper into small pieces. She was angry. She threw
rather than dropped the bits of paper into the flames,--unmistakably
she was furious. He waited a moment before entering the room. Her
back was toward him. She turned in response to his discreet cough.
Even in the dim light that filtered in from the grey, leaden day
outside, he could detect the heightened colour in her cheeks, and
as he advanced he saw that her eyes were wet with illy-suppressed
tears.
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