Page:The Tsar's Window.djvu/252

 fact that all the party except George turned their eyes away from our meeting.

"So you have come at last!" cried Alice. "We thought you were very slow about it."

"I did not receive the letter until last night."

"These Russians," said Tom, "are incapable of hurrying. Tell them 'Si Chass,' and they think that means any time within a week."

We finished our lunch leisurely, listening to Mr. Thurber's account of his adventures. Then we all strolled out to see the palace. Mr. Thurber, as of old, constituted himself my escort, and took occasion to say to me very quietly,—

"I shall spend only a day or two with you, and I shall not ask you what decision you have arrived at until I come to Petersburg. If my presence here annoys you, I trust you will tell me."

"Why should it?" I responded frankly. "I like to have you here."

He looked unmistakably pleased; and I thought, at that moment, that I should find it easy to get along with him, if I did marry him. He never annoys or makes me lose my temper, as George does. So we wandered through the palace, chatting in the best possible spirits; and I wondered how I could have forgotten what a pleasant companion Mr. Thurber always has been. At first, the others left us to ourselves. Then Tom, forgetting his rôle of match-maker, which had been instilled into him by the women of his family, called upon Mr. Thurber to settle some discussion he was having with Judith.