er; it expressed mutely, perhaps
without his own consciousness, something deep, wild, and passionate. She
left the room at once. Her heart beat fast at the knowledge of Ralph's
presence; but it beat with pain, and with an extraordinary fear. She
stood listening for a moment to the voices in the next room.

"Of course, I agree with you," she heard Ralph say, in this strange
voice, to Mr. Basnett. "But there's more that might be done. Have you
seen Judson, for instance? You should make a point of getting him."

Mary returned with the quinine.

"Judson's address?" Mr. Basnett inquired, pulling out his notebook and
preparing to write. For twenty minutes, perhaps, he wrote down names,
addresses, and other suggestions that Ralph dictated to him. Then, when
Ralph fell silent, Mr. Basnett felt that his presence was not desired,
and thanking Ralph for his help, with a sense that he was very young and
ignorant compared with him, he said good-bye.

"Mary," said Ralph, directly Mr. Basnett had shut the door and they were
alone together. "Mary," he repeated. But the old difficulty of speaking
to Mary without reserve prevented him from continuing. His desire to
proclaim his love for Katharine was still strong in him, but he had
felt, directly he saw Mary, that he could not share it with her. The
feeling increased as he sat talking to Mr. Basnett. And yet all the time
he was thinking of Katharine, and marveling at his love. The tone in
which he spoke Mary's name was harsh.

"What is it, Ralph?" she asked, startled by his tone. She looked at him
anxiously, and her little frown showed that she was trying painfully
to understand him, and was puzzled. He could feel her groping for his
meaning, and he was annoyed with her, and thought how he had always
found her slow, painstaking, and clumsy. He had behaved badly to her,
too, which made his irritation the more acute. Without waiting for him
to answer, she rose as if his answer were indifferent to her, and began
to put in order some papers that Mr. Basnett had left on the table. She
hummed a scrap of a tune under her breath, and moved about the room as
if she were occupied in making things tidy, and had no other concern.

"You'll stay and dine?" she said casually, returning to her seat.

"No," Ralph replied. She did not press him further. They sat side by
side without speaking, and Mary reached her hand for her work basket,
and took out her sewing and threaded a needle.

"That's a c