CHAPTER SIX
WHEN Madame Seroni's handsome Rolls-Royce and Mr. Milward's somewhat shabbier car had driven away. Honey and John turned and strolled back toward the hospital in silence. Honey felt almost too vexed and distressed to say anything, and he seemed to be calmly unaware of the fact that apologies and explanations were called for. Indeed, when he did finally speak, all he said was, "How soon do you expect to have your leave?" Honey glanced at him. "Meadows came back yesterday," she admitted reluctantly, "and two of the others are expected by the weekend. I suppose I could have it next week ... if I wanted it." "But don't you?" He sounded no more than mildly surprised at the idea that someone should be willing to sacrifice several days of their leave. Honey took a deep breath and counted to ten. "Don't you think," she said, in a dangerously quiet voice, "that it would be wiser for me to pretend that I couldn't get away during the month your sister is here?" "No," he said, without elaboration. "But, Dr. Anston, if Mother and I go to London and I'm shown around to your friends as your fiancee, and there is trousseau buying and goodness knows what else, the whole thing will get completely out of 94 hand. You must see that!" Honey felt overwhelmed. "On the contrary," he assured her. "Opposition only stimulates Deborah. If we have no arguments and appear to do exactly what she proposes, everything will go on quite smoothly and uneventfully. Then, when she has returned to the States, we can rearrange things to suit ourselves," "But she's returning there only for about a month or six weeks," Honey reminded him. "That's long enough to break any engagement," declared John carelessly. And, for some perverse reason she could not have explained. Honey felt furious with him for speaking of their engagement in that slighting way. "Have you thought," she asked coldly,, "how unpleasant my position here in the hospital is going to be, when the news of the. broken engagement leaks out?" "My dear, you'll be the heroine of the place," he "retorted, with what she thought ill-timed humor. "You will be doing the jilting, remember." "I don't want to be doing |>
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