Page:Barbour--Peggy in the rain.djvu/137

 half-past seven I shall be here at this corner in my car. Will you come?"

"I—can't!"

"At half-past seven, Peggy?"

After a long moment she lifted her head tiredly and looked at him with a little wan smile.

"At half-past seven, Peggy?" he repeated.

"Yes," she said quite evenly, "only"

"Only what, Peggy-in-the-Rain?"

"I think—I hate you," she replied quietly.

He laughed again very softly, "Hate me to your heart's content, dear," he answered, "only come!"

She went slowly over the crossing, a slim, black-clad figure. Gordon, watching, drew a deep sigh and turned away. She would not look back; he knew that. He no longer felt triumphant, only vividly alive and a little bit dizzy, as though he had taken some strange drug. He wanted a drink badly and, taking the wheel, sped the car to the club.