Page:Barbour--Peggy in the rain.djvu/171

 it away across the cloth. "I suppose the best thing for me to do is to get away and try to—forget you."

There was no answer and presently he looked across at her. She was leaning with her chin on her clasped hands, her eyes fixed inscrutably on him.

"Isn't it?" he demanded impatiently.

She lowered her gaze. "It would be best for both of us," she answered steadily.

"For both?" he exclaimed eagerly. "My God, Peggy, do you expect me to run away when you talk like that?"

"I don't expect you to run away at all," she replied, smiling gravely. "I don't think you mean to."

His eyes fell. "I would if I thought—it would do any good; if I thought I could forget you," he muttered. She shook her head.

"You won't," she said convincedly.

"It sounds as though you didn't want me to—forget you!" he challenged.

"I don't know—what I want," she answered tiredly. "I know that you ought to forget me, and that I ought to forget you; that if I see you