possible; building up the fire while she built up her own argument; or
attacking it vigorously, while she demolished her opponent's; that she
stirred the fire with her toe, but her very smart boots never seemed
any the worse; that when pondering a difficult problem, she usually
stood holding her chin in her right hand, until she had found the
solution. All these small characteristics Garth described with vivid
touch, and dwelt upon with a tenacity of remembrance, which astonished
Jane, and revealed him, in his relation to herself three years before,
in a new light.

His love for her had been so suddenly disclosed, and had at once had to
be considered as a thing to be either accepted or put away; so that
when she decided to put it away, it seemed not to have had time to
become in any sense part of her life. She had viewed it; realised all
it might have meant; and put it from her.

But now she understood how different it had been for Garth. During the
week which preceded his declaration, he had realised, to the full, the
meaning of their growing intimacy; and, as his certainty increased, he
had more and more woven her into his life; his vivid imagination
causing her to appear as his beloved from the first; loved and wanted,
when as yet they were merely acquaintances; kindred spirits; friends.

To find herself thus shrined in his heart and memory was infinitely
touching to Jane; and seemed to promise, with sweet certainty, that it
would not be difficult to come home there to abide, when once all
barriers between them were removed.

After dinner, Garth sat long at the piano, filling the room with
harmony. Once or twice the theme of The Rosary crept in, and Jane
listened anxiously for its development; but almost immediately it gave
way to something else. It seemed rather to haunt the other melodies,
than to be actually there itself.

When Garth left the piano, and, guided by the purple cord, reached his
chair, Nurse Rosemary said gently "Mr. Dalmain, can you spare me for a
few days at the end of this week?"

"Oh, why?" said Garth. "To go where? And for how long? Ah, I know I
ought to say: 'Certainly! Delighted!' after all your goodness to me.
But I really cannot! You don't know what life was without you, when you
week-ended! That week-end seemed months, even though Brand was here. It
is your own fault for making yourself so indispensable."

Nurse Rosemary smiled. "I daresay I shall not be away for long," she
said.