"They expect me to leave within a fortnight," he ended.

And she knew what was in his mind--what he was hoping she would say.
It so happened that, in the months since their engagement, an immense amount of work had been thrust upon Dory.

Part of it was a study of the great American universities, and that meant long absences from home.

All of it was of the kind that must be done at once or not at all--and Work is the one mistress who, if she be enamored enough of a man to resolve to have him and no other, can compel him, whether he be enamored of her or not.

However, for the beginning of the artificial relation between this engaged couple, the chief cause was not his work but his attitude toward her, his not unnatural but highly unwise regard for the peculiar circumstances in which they had become engaged.