to get married," he went on meditatively, after
a moment adding bitterly, "Her wanting it is the only thing that would
ever make her do it."

He went down cellar for coal, and after he had filled the stove began
undressing before it. When ready for bed he sat there a little before
the fire, as if taking in all the heat he could for the night. Ruth had
finished her darning and was putting the things away. "Coming to bed?"
he asked of her.

"Not right away," she said, her voice restrained.

"Better not try to sit up late, Ruth," he said kindly. "You need plenty
of sleep. I notice you're often pretty tired at night."

She did not reply, putting things in the machine drawer. Her back was to
him. "Well, Ruth," he said, in a voice genial but slightly ironic, "we
can get married now."

She went on doing things and still did not speak.

"Better late than never," he said pleasantly, yawning.

He stood up, ready for going into the bedroom, but still hating to leave
the fire, standing there with his back to it. "When shall we get
married, Ruth?" he went on, in a slightly amused voice.

"Oh, I don't know, Stuart," she replied shortly from the kitchen.

"Have to plan it out," he said sleepily, yawning once more. Then he
laughed, as if the idea more and more amused him. After that he
murmured, in the voice of one mildly curious about a thing, "I wonder if
Marion _is_ going to get married?"

Ruth wanted to take a bath before she went to bed. Taking a bath was no
easy matter under their circumstances. It was so much work and usually
she was so tired that she would sometimes let it go longer than she
would have supposed she would ever let bathing go. She was determined
not to let it go tonight. She had the water on heating; she went down
for the tub, went upstairs into her frigid room for the fresh things to
put on in the morning. The room was so cold that there was a sort of
horror about it. She went over to the window; the snow made the valley
bright. Dimly she could see a massed thing--the huddled sheep. With a
hard little laugh for the sob that shook her she hurried out of the
room.

She took her bath before the fire in the living-room. Stuart had piled
on one chair the clothes that he had taken off and would put on in the
morning. She placed on another the things for herself. And suddenly she
looked at those two chairs and the thing that she had been trying not to
think about--that now they two could be married--seemed