Carroll met him with a bright smile.
"Things aren't quite right at home," she said. "It is a great shock
to poor mother at first, and she feels very strongly. Oh, it isn't
you, dear; it's the notion that I can care for anybody but her. You
see, she's been used to the other idea so long that I suppose it
seemed a part of the universe to her. She'll get used to it after a
little, but it takes time."
Orde examined her face anxiously. Two bright red spots burned on
her cheeks; her eyes flashed with a nervous animation, and a faint
shade had sketched itself beneath them.
"You had a hard time," he murmured, "you poor dear!"
She smiled up at him.
"We have to pay for the good things in life, don't we, dear? And
they are worth it. Things will come right after a little. We must
not be too impatient. Now, let's enjoy the day. The park isn't so
bad, is it?"
At five o'clock Orde took her back to her doorstep, where he left
her.
This went on for several days.
At the end of that time Orde could not conceal from himself that the
strain was beginning to tell. Carroll's worried expression grew
from day to day, while the animation that characterised her manner
when freed from the restraint became more and more forced.
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