Oh, if only--if only--her father had chosen a lady for his wife! It was disloyal, she knew, to indulge such a thought, but her mood was black and her soul was in revolt.

She was sure--quite sure--that marriage presented the only possibility of deliverance, and deliverance was beginning to seem imperative.

Her whole individuality, which this past week of giddy liberty had done so much to develop, cried aloud for it.
She went to the window.

Billy had grown tired of waiting and gone off without her.

She fancied she could see his sturdy figure on the further slope.