Howard simply turned away from me again, and I caught a mutter of
"damned impertinence."
Seeing it was useless to say anything further at the moment, I
strolled back into the centre of the room again, called Nous to me,
and sat down.
"Jealous!" I thought, with contemptuous amusement; "how
extraordinary!"
Then my thoughts rushed away in a sudden stream to Lucia, and I saw
her face, glowing with delight, look out upon me from the blank
surface of the wall.
"How soon now shall I possess you?" was my one thought. "How long to
our marriage?"
I began by allowing three months, but I shortened and shortened the
time till I cut it down to a fortnight.
"Could I persuade her to let it be in a fortnight?" and I thought I
could.
A quarter of an hour passed, and Howard had not moved from his
position in the window. A very little day-dreaming is enough for me,
especially about a woman. I yawned, stretched, and finally got up.
"Howard," I said, "I'm going out for a turn with Nous, but I will
came back in time for dinner."
I lingered, but he said nothing. I put on my hat, called the dog,
and went out. I started to walk to the Arc, and the distance there
and back would have taken me, as I had said, till our dinner hour,
but half way there the inclination failed. I felt tired and turned
back.
"How utterly done up I feel!" I thought; "not worth anything.
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