t he wanted her to
be there. That was his greatest craving. He wanted her to be always
there. And so he craved for marriage: to possess her entirely, and
to have her always there with him, so that he was never alone. Alone
and apart from all the world: but by her side, always by her side.

"Now when shall we fix the marriage?" he said. "It is no good
putting it back. We both know what we are doing. And now the
engagement is announced--"

He looked at her anxiously. She could see the hysterical little boy
under the great, authoritative man.

"Oh, not till after Christmas!" she said.

"After Christmas!" he started as if he had been bitten. "Nonsense!
It's nonsense to wait so long. Next month, at the latest."

"Oh no," she said. "I don't think so soon."

"Why not? The sooner the better. You had better send in your
resignation at once, so that you're free."

"Oh but is there any need? I may be transferred for war service."

"That's not likely. You're our only maternity nurse--"

And so the days went by. She had tea with him practically every
afternoon, and she got used to him. They discussed the furnishing--she
could not help suggesting a few alterations, a few arrangements
according to _her_ idea. And he drew up a plan of a wedding tour in
Scotland. Yet she was quite certain she would not marry him. The matron
laughed at her certainty. "You will drift into it," she said. "He is
tying you down by too many little threads."

"Ah, well, you'll see!" said Alvina.

"Yes," said the matron. "I _shall_ see."

And it was true that Alvina's will was indeterminate, at this time.
She was _resolved_ not to marry. But her will, like a spring that is
hitched somehow, did not fly direct against the doctor. She had sent
in her resignation, as he suggested. But not that she might be free
to marry him, but that she might be at liberty to flee him. So she
told herself. Yet she worked into his hands.

One day she sat with the doctor in the car near the station--it was
towards the end of September--held up by a squad of soldiers in
khaki, who were marching off with their band wildly playing, to
embark on the special troop train that was coming down from the
north. The town was in great excitement. War-fever was spreading
everywhere. Men were rushing to enlist--and being constantly
rejected, for it was still the days of regular standards.

As the crowds surged on the pavement, as the soldiers tramped to the
station, as the traff