Dinah turned her head towards her silent companion. "I wonder," she said,
"if I could learn to be a nurse."
He blew a cloud of smoke into the air. "Are you still worrying about the
future?" he said.
"I don't know that I am exactly worrying," she made low reply. "But I
shall have to decide about it very soon."
Scott was silent for a space while he finished his cigarette. Then at
last slowly, haltingly, he spoke. "Dinah,--I have been thinking about the
future too. If I touch upon anything that hurts you, you must stop me,
and I will not say another word. But, child, it seems to me that we shall
both be--rather lost--when Isabel is gone. I wonder--would it shock you
very much--if I suggested to you--as a solution of the difficulty--that
we should some day in the future enter into partnership together?"
He spoke with obvious effort; his hands were gripped upon the arms of his
chair. The wicker creaked in the strain of his grasp, but he himself
remained lying back with eyes half-closed in compulsory inaction.
Dinah also sat absolutely still. If his words amazed her, she gave no
sign. Only the wistfulness about her mouth deepened as she made answer
below her breath. "It--is just like you to suggest such a thing;
but--it is quite impossible."
He opened his eyes and looked at her very steadily and kindly. "Quite?"
he said.
She bent her head, swiftly lowering her own.
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