"
Greatly to their surprise he raised himself, looked at his watch, and
remarked that, as it was now half an hour since luncheon, the gastric
juices had had sufficient time to secrete; he was trying a system, he
explained, which involved short spells of exercise interspaced by longer
intervals of rest.
"I shall be back at four," he remarked to Helen, "when I shall lie down
on the sofa and relax all my muscles completely."
"So you're going, Rachel?" Helen asked. "You won't stay with me?"
She smiled, but she might have been sad.
Was she sad, or was she really laughing? Rachel could not tell, and she
felt for the moment very uncomfortable between Helen and Terence.
Then she turned away, saying merely that she would go with Terence, on
condition that he did all the talking.
A narrow border of shadow ran along the road, which was broad enough for
two, but not broad enough for three. St. John therefore dropped a little
behind the pair, and the distance between them increased by degrees.
Walking with a view to digestion, and with one eye upon his watch, he
looked from time to time at the pair in front of him. They seemed to be
so happy, so intimate, although they were walking side by side much as
other people walk. They turned slightly toward each other now and then,
and said something which he thought must be something very private.
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