"Friends!" He had been suffered to call her more endearing names throughout the span of the past few weeks. "I'm sure we'll always be the best sort of friends, Leslie." But he couldn't see it. "I'm going back to the city!" It was about as close to heroics as he ever verged. And following this highly dramatic climax there was a little space of silence. They walked on, side by side. Louise began to realize how unwise she had been. [Pg 38] [Pg 38] This walk through the forest of Betsey was ordinarily a very wonderful experience. Of course, however, upon this occasion, neither of the young persons concerned was in any mood to appreciate it. For her part, if consulted, Louise would reply that she had no time. Still, for all that, the experience was (potentially) a delight; for here one discovered a true, unspoiled natural loveliness, even a kind of sylvan grandeur. The way, all underneath greenery thickly arched, wound up and down. From every eminence the neighbouring valleys appeared sunk to an almost ghostly declivity; but from the valleys themselves, the uplands, with their rich tangled approaches, soared grandly toward a heaven invisible for leafy vaulting. At this early hour the summits were a little dusky, while the depressions slept in deep shade. The full, fair rays of the uprising sun shot across the exposed tops of the higher levels of forest, and here and there even the loftier stretches of path would be dappled with furtive annunciatory splashes. In the forest it was cool and buoyantly fresh, though heat was already quivering up off the open stretches of sand skirting the smaller lake. It promised to be one of the warm days of a rather grudging season. "Les," she said finally, "why do you talk about going back to the city?" "Because I don't care to stay up here and...." If concluded, the sentence would have run: "and see[Pg 39] you together." But he thought better of it. Poise saved him. He compressed his lips. [Pg 39] "Oh, Les, don't make it so hard for me!" "You didn't spare me!" he replied grimly.
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