But he did not feel awkward or shy; he was thinking now, as he had been thinking now and then through the whole evening, of only one thing, that Maimie was going away.

That would make a great difference to him, so great that he was conscious of a heart-sinking at the mere thought of it.

During the last weeks, his life had come to move about a center, and that center was Maimie; and now that she was going away, there would be nothing left.

Nothing, that is, that really mattered.

But the question he was revolving in his mind was, would she forget all about him.