He could not bear to go to
the house without some little gift for Eileen, and it was violets now as
it was in the days that could never dawn again--a great, fragrant bunch
of them, which he would leave for her after his brief play-hour with
Drina was ended.
The child was glad to see him, and expressed herself so, coming across
to the chair where he sat and leaning against him, one arm on his
shoulder.
"Do you know," she said, "that I miss you ever so much? Do you know,
also, that I am nearly fourteen, and that there is nobody in this house
near enough my age to be very companionable? I have asked them to send
me to school, and mother is considering it."
She leaned against his shoulder, curly head bent, thoughtfully studying
the turquoise ring on her slim finger. It was her first ring. Nina had
let Boots give it to her.
"What a tall girl you are growing into!" he said, encircling her waist
with one arm. "Your mother was like you at fourteen. . . . Did she ever
tell you how she first met your father? Well, I'll tell you then.
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