The
whole place wore an important air for the next half-hour. She went up to
her room to wait for it, and before the line was put through she thought
of something that would have prevented her doing it if she'd thought in
time. He'd probably think something horrible had happened to one of
them. So the moment she heard his voice--it was faint and far-away but
clear enough that she could detect the straining urgency of it--she
said:
"It's all right, Roddy. There isn't a thing the matter. Did I frighten
you half to death?"
He said, "Thank God!" And then, "I don't suppose it was two minutes I
waited for your voice, but it seemed a year. What is it?"
"I'm ashamed to tell you, after a scare like that. It's nothing, Roddy.
Just to hear you say hello. It seems a pretty unjust sort of world,
to-night, and I wanted to be reminded that you were in it. That's all."
She had to say it all over again before she could make him believe he'd
heard her straight, and by that time she was feeling pretty foolish over
the impulse she had yielded to.
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