_Au revoir_."
When he had gone, almost before the door had closed on him, Maude moved
closer to Stafford, and with a mixture of shyness and eagerness, put
her arm round his neck.
"How good of you to come so early!" she murmured, in the voice which
only a woman in love can use, and only when she is addressing the man
she loves. "You did not come to Richmond? Never mind! Stafford, you
know that I do not wish to hamper or bind you, do you not?--Are you
well?" she broke off, scanning his face earnestly, anxiously. "Quite
well," he responded. "Why do you ask, Maude?"
"I thought you looked tired, pale, that you have looked so for some
weeks," she said, her eyes seeking his.
He shrugged his shoulders.
"I am quite well. The hot weather makes one feel rather limp, I
suppose. At any rate, there is nothing else the matter with me but a
fit of laziness."
"As if you were ever lazy!" she said, with a smile.
"There is a large party to-night?" he said, presently.
She nodded.
"Yes: immense. The biggest thing we--I mean Sir Stephen--has done." Her
eyes fell for a moment. "You will dance with me to-night--twice,
Stafford?"
"As many times as you like, of course," he said.
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