If he had expected the
usual answer to such a request, he began, before she spoke, to realize
that it was by no means a foregone conclusion that he should receive
usual answers from her to any questioning whatsoever. But her reply
surprised him more than he had ever been surprised by any girl in his
life.
"Mr. Kendrick," said she slowly, "I wish that you need not see me again
till--suppose we say Midsummer Day,[A] the twenty-fourth of June, you
know."
[Footnote A: Midsummer comes at the time of the summer solstice, about
June 21st, but Midsummer Day, the Feast of St. John the Baptist, is the
24th of June.]
He stared at her. "If you put it that way," he began stiffly, "you
certainly need not--"
"But I didn't put it that way. I said I wished that you need not see me.
That is quite different from wishing I need not see you. I don't mind
seeing you in the least--"
"That's good of you!"
"Don't be angry. I'm going to be quite frank with you--"
"I'm prepared for that. I can't remember that you've ever been anything
else."
"Please listen to me, Mr. Kendrick. When I say that I wish you would not
see me--"
"You said 'need not.
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