Page:Caroline Lockhart--The full of the Moon.djvu/260

 on his guard when with her lest he betray himself by some look or word. She had made her choice, and the only thing which now remained for him to do was to quietly withdraw and take his medicine like a man.

Nan was quick to feel the change in him, the subtle difference left her with a feeling of helplessness, as though some important support had been taken away. She had not known how much she depended upon him until he left her to decide everything entirely for herself. She had taken his devotion and constant attention as a matter of course and his withdrawal became the troubled under-current of her thoughts.

Then, too, an imperative telegram came saying that her "furlough" had expired and she must return without delay. Altogether she was in no enviable frame of mind in spite of the success of the trial.

The stage for the railroad terminus left the next day but one, and in the interim Nan knew she must make up her bewildered mind as to what she was going to do. Edith, too, felt she could stay no longer, and it was her suggestion that Nan and Bob should travel