Catherine dropped her feet over the edge of the couch and clasped her arms about her knees. When he comes, she thought, I will tell him. If I go on thinking in the dark, I'll fly to bits.
She could see him, darker than the bushes, moving toward her. Then she could smell his pipe.
"Hello!" she called softly, and he crossed the grass to the steps.
"Say, what a night! And what a place!" He slapped his hat beside him, and sat down at Catherine's feet, backed against the pillar. "It's been fierce in town to-day, I'll bet. You're lucky to be able to stay here." He puffed, and the smoke moved in a cloud about the indistinct outline of his face. "Wish I could!"
"To-morrow night." Charles sounded aggrieved. "I wrote you I had just the week-end."
"I hoped you might manage a little longer----"
"Can't manage that conference on Monday without being there."
"What conference is that?" Catherine swung one knee over the other; as she watched the face there in the dark, she could feel its expression, although the features were so vague.
"The committee on psychological work in the schools. You remember? Planning it all through the East. It's a big thing."
"Oh, that new committee." Catherine was apathetic.
"That woman I spoke of, Stella Partridge, is mighty keen. She's working out an organization scheme that beats any plan I've seen. I tell you what, old girl, it's great to see the world wake up and swing around to asking for what you want to give it!" Charles cuffed at her foot. "Remember that first year down here? With Spencer a baby, and buying this old house a tremendous undertaking, and me writing a book that I didn't dare hope would sell? Things are different now, aren't they?"
"They are different." Catherine's voice hardened subtly. "I helped with that book, didn't I?"
"Jove! I should say you did. All that typing, and correcting, and then the proof reading."
"Well, now my work has broadened out so much, and there are the three children. I can afford to hire the typing done now, eh what?"
"What's the matter with you, Catherine? You've had a kind of chip about you somewhere ever since I came this time. I can't help it if I can't spend all my time playing in the country with you and the children, can I? After all, I have to see to my work, and it's increasingly demanding."