rrow."

"All right."

"But I shall see you this evening. I shall be round at your paper on
Schopenhauer. Lemme go."

"Don't go," he said idly. "It's much better for you to talk to me."

"Lemme go, Stewart."

"It's amusing that you're so feeble. You--simply--can't--get--away. I
wish I wanted to bully you."

Rickie laughed, and suddenly over balanced into the grass. Ansell, with
unusual playfulness, held him prisoner. They lay there for few minutes,
talking and ragging aimlessly. Then Rickie seized his opportunity and
jerked away.

"Go, go!" yawned the other. But he was a little vexed, for he was a
young man with great capacity for pleasure, and it pleased him that
morning to be with his friend. The thought of two ladies waiting lunch
did not deter him; stupid women, why shouldn't they wait? Why should
they interfere with their betters? With his ear on the ground he
listened to Rickie's departing steps, and thought, "He wastes a lot of
time keeping engagements. Why will he be pleasant to fools?" And then
he thought, "Why has he turned so unhappy? It isn't as it he's a
philosopher, or tries to solve the riddle of existence. And he's got
money of his own." Thus thinking, he fell asleep.

Meanwhile Rickie hurried away from him, and slackened and stopped, and
hurried again. He was due at the Union in ten minutes, but he could not
bring himself there. He dared not meet Miss Pembroke: he loved her.

The devil must have planned it. They had started so gloriously; she had
been a goddess both in joy and sorrow. She was a goddess still. But
he had dethroned the god whom once he had glorified equally. Slowly,
slowly, the image of Gerald had faded. That was the first step. Rickie
had thought, "No matter. He will be bright again. Just now all the
radiance chances to be in her." And on her he had fixed his eyes. He
thought of her awake. He entertained her willingly in dreams. He found
her in poetry and music and in the sunset. She made him kind and strong.
She made him clever. Through her he kept Cambridge in its proper place,
and lived as a citizen of the great world. But one night he dreamt
that she lay in his arms. This displeased him. He determined to think a
little about Gerald instead. Then the fabric collapsed.

It was hard on Rickie thus to meet the devil. He did not deserve it, for
he was comparatively civilized, and knew that there was nothing shameful
in love. But to love this woman! If only it had been any one e