But the joyous spirit of them I would fain have retained, and I found it slipping elusively away.
We were, in fact, and inevitably, putting away the things of our childhood and becoming man and woman, with all the wider and deeper feelings incident thereto.

The changes were inevitable and--Carette grew in some ways more quickly than I did.

So that, whereas I had always been undisputed leader in all things, even when it was the accomplishing of her wishes, now I found myself looking up to her as something above me, possibly beyond me, something certainly to strive after with all that was in me, and without which everything else would be nothing.
Perhaps I had been inclined to take things somewhat for granted.

Jeanne Falla did not fail, in due course, to tell me so, and she was a very shrewd woman and understood her kind better than any man that ever was born.

Now, taking things for granted is always, and under any circumstances, but most especially where the unknown is in question, a most unwise thing to do.