Think, sirs, what a slip on her part will do.

It will plainly knock the three precious articles aforementioned into a
cocked hat. Thence they will be retrieved to be turned against
her--used to her condemnation by Anthony frantic. As for their love,
the fragments of this that remain will not be worth taking up....

Anthony passed a hand across his forehead.

"Shall I tell you what I dreamed?"

"Yes," said Valerie.

"I dreamed that you came to me to make it up. And I was afraid. I
tried to keep off the subject. I'd come such an awful cropper that I
didn't want any more falls. But you would have it out.... And you
said--don't laugh--that you'd turned me down because of Anne Alison."
He stopped still and looked at her. "What was the real reason?"

Leaning her back against a green box wall, Valerie moistened her lips.
Then--

"It's perfectly true," she said quietly.

Anthony stared.

"What's true?"

"Listen. You remember the meet at Saddle Tree Cross?"

"Yes."

"When we spoke of my 'window,' and you said the spot meant so much to
you that you couldn't keep away?"

Anthony nodded.

"D'you remember I said I was going away the next day?"

"Perfectly."

"It fell through, and I didn't go. There wasn't time to tell you, so I
went--to the 'window.'" Anthony started. "That's right. I found you
there with Anne Alison."

"But, Valerie----"

"I know, I know. Anne told me, after you'd gone--_down_." The slip
she had so nearly made set the girl sweating--literally. "I was mad,
Anthony, mad," she panted. "I couldn't think straight. I nearly
jumped over the cliff. I think the shock sent me blind. I'd always
grudged her being so much with you. I want you to know the truth. She
was always at the back of my mind. And when I saw you together--there,
at our window----" She buried her face in her hands. "I know it was
vile of me, dear. You see what I'm like. And if, now that you know,
you'd like to go to an hotel..."

"But, Valerie, why didn't you give me a chance?"

"I was mad," she wailed, "mad. I loved you so wildly, Anthony, that I
was stunned. And, in spite of it all, I loved you just as much. And
that made me so furious, I could have torn my hair. I wanted to hurt
you cruelly, and when I did, I bruised my own heart."

"But why----"

"I was too proud. You'd dared to touch my pride"--she laughed
hysterically--"my precious, sacred pride--my Ark of the Covenant.
D'you remember how