“Well，I’mgladofthat，“shesaid。“Iain’tgotanygrudgeagainstAnnabel，butneitherhaveIgotoneagainstyou。Anothermaninthatfamilywouldhaveaneasytimeinoneway，hewouldn’thavetodoanythinkin’forhimself——Elkanahandhisdaughterwoulddoallthatwasnecessary。Soyou’renotinlove。ThenIdon’tknowwhatdoesailyou。I’llsaythis，though，forabodythatain’tinloveyoucertainlystaywiththeDanielsesalongtime。
Youwentthererightaftermeetin’thisnoonandnowit’sseveno’clockandyou’vejustgothome。And’twasthesamelastSundayandtheonebefore。Beenthereallthetime，haveyou？“
Sheknewhehadnot，becauseshehadseenhimpasstheparsonage，ontheoppositesideoftheroad，twohoursbefore。Butshewascurioustolearnwhathisreplywouldbe。Itwasnoncommittal。
“No，“hesaidslowly。“Notallthetime。I——er——wentforashortwalk。“
Beforeshecouldinquireconcerningthatwalkhehadenteredthestudyandclosedthedoorafterhim。