Page:Carroll Rankin--Dandelion Cottage.djvu/262

 238   hurt him quite as much as did the dignified silence of the three pale girls who waited for a moment in the doorway, while equally pallid Jean went quietly forward to lay the key on his desk. He realised suddenly that not one of them could have spoken a word without bursting into tears; and, for the rest of that day, he hated himself most heartily.