"
She looked at him and smiled. "It's quite easy," she answered. "I
always see her as she lay there with all the sorrow gone from her. She
looked so beautiful and kind."
He rose and took the letter from where he had placed it on the
mantelpiece. He stooped and held it out above the fire and a little
flame leaped up and seemed to take it from his hand.
They neither spoke during the short walk between the two hotels. But at
the door she turned and held out her hands to him.
"Thank you," she said, "for being so kind--and wise. I shall always love
and honour her."
He kissed her, promising to take care of himself.
She ran against Phillips, the next day, at one of the big stores where
she was shopping. He had obtained a commission early in the war and was
now a captain. He had just come back from the front on leave. The
alternative had not appealed to him, of being one of those responsible
for sending other men to death while remaining himself in security and
comfort.
"It's a matter of temperament," he said. "Somebody's got to stop behind
and do the patriotic speechifying.
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