Barry laughed and turned the conversation back to her proposed
collaboration with Owen; and Toni was only too eager to discuss the
subject, which lasted, indeed, until Barry said good-bye.

His last glimpse of her was as she stood on the steps calling out her
farewell; and he carried away a clearly-cut impression of the slight,
blue-robed figure, her black hair a little loosened round her eager,
vivid face, her eyes full of a new and ardent resolution, which had
quite banished the look of sadness and fatigue he had noticed earlier in
the evening.

It was evident his suggestion had fired her heart and mind, and for a
moment, as he was borne swiftly down the black avenue on to the high
road, Barry asked himself if he had done well to light that lamp of hope
and high desire in her soul.

If Owen should refuse her aid, if he should let her see that he had no
desire for help from her, no exportation of any adequate service, the
flame which Barry's words had lit would be cruelly extinguished, leaving
in its place only the blank and utter darkness of disillusionment.

And once removed from her beseeching presence, Barry wondered, rather
hopelessly, if indeed Toni's help would be of any value. She was ready,
eager indeed, to be of use; but was she capable of work such as Owen
would require?

Against his will Barry had a vision of Miss Loder in Toni's place--not
as wife, but as assistant--and he confessed to himself with a groan that
the highly-finished product of school and college would probably prove
herself of far more practical use than the impulsive, emotional, and
alas! unliterary Toni.

But the harm was done now. He had lighted the torch in Toni's soul, and
he could only hope that no adverse breath would blow to extinguish its
flame.

CHAPTER XVI

"Toni, I have a proposal to make. Suppose you stop typing for a little
while and listen to me. Will you, dear?"

Toni, all the colour slipping out of her face, put down the sheet she
had just taken up and waited obediently to hear Owen's proposal.

This was the ninth day of their mutual labour; and even Toni's optimism
could not assert that the experience had been successful.

She had tried so hard, poor Toni. With every nerve strained to the
utmost, with her mind emptied of anything which did not bear upon the
subject in hand, she had striven to help Owen, to take down from
dictation the words, the sentences, in which his thoughts were clothed.

She had