"I'll catch you."

"I'm not so bad as that." She climbed down stiffly while he watched her,
and in some way she felt herself more injured by the quality of his gaze
than she would have been by his clasp. Without looking at him, she said
good-bye and made a step or two.

"But I shall see you again."

"One--one supposes so!"

"I mean tonight."

"I--don't know."

"Leave the blind up so that I can see if you're alone."

She made no answer, and when she had run lamely up the track, she turned
at the door to see her husband still standing in the road.

Lily met her in the hall and said, "Mrs. Caniper's asleep, and she's
better, my dear. She seems happier, somehow. So George Halkett brought
you home. A good thing, too. Come into the kitchen and get warm. I'll
make some tea and toast for you. You're frozen. Here, let me take off
your boots. Sit down."

"I can do it, thank you."

"But you're going to let me, just to please me."

Helen submitted and lay back. "You look nice with the firelight on you."

"Hadn't that man a rug?"

"What? Oh, yes, yes." The warmth and peace of the kitchen were almost
stupefying. She shut her eyes and felt soft slippers being pushed on to
her feet; the singing of the kettle became one sound with the howling of
the wind, and Lily's voice dragged her from the very brim of sleep.

"Here's a slice, and the kettle's boiling. A good thing John isn't here!
He says it's the water, not the kettle."

"How fussy of him!"

"But he's right."

"Always?"

"Not a bit of it."

"I'm glad of that. Would it have made much difference to you if you
hadn't married him?"

"D'you think I don't care enough for him?"

"Of course I don't."

"Now look, you've made me burn the toast."

"Scrape it. I wanted to know--how much he filled of you."

"I don't know. I never thought about it. I wouldn't have been lovesick,
anyway. I had my work to do."

"I expect that's how men feel. I sometimes think nothing's worth
struggling for."

"Oh, but it is. I'm always fighting. I saved two lambs last week."

"That's different. I meant--for happiness. People struggle and get
nothing. It's such a little life. Seventy years, perhaps. They
pass--somehow."

"But if you've ever had the toothache, you know how long an hour can be.
What's the matter with you?"

"I'm just thinking."

"Unhappy?"

"No."

"When will Zebedee be back?"

"In about ten days."

"Are you feeling he'll never come?"

"I'm sure he'll