The idea appealed to him strongly; he played with it, just
as when he was a child in a college town he had played with the idea
of getting up in church and walking about on the backs of the pews.
This would be pleasanter, and the subsequent getaway even easier. He
glanced at the dark lawn behind him; there appeared to be no obstacle
to escape.
Perhaps, under the spell of her attraction for him, and the knowledge
that he would never see her again, he might actually have done it, but
she broke the trance by speaking to a tall, stolid young man who was
with her.
"No, Eddie," she said, as if answering something he had said some time
ago, "I really was at home, at just the time I said, only this new
butler does hate you so--"
"You might speak to him about it--you might even get rid of him,"
replied the young man, in the tone of one deeply imposed upon.
"Good butlers are so rare nowadays."
"And are devoted friends so easy to find?"
"No, but a good deal easier than butlers, Eddie dear."
The young man gave an exclamation of annoyance. "Let us find some
place out of the way. I want to speak to you seriously--" he began,
and they moved out of earshot--presumably to a secluded spot of
Eddie's choosing.
When they had gone Ben felt distinctly lonely, and, what was more
absurd, slighted, as if Eddie had deliberately taken the girl away
from him--out of reach. How silly, he thought, for Eddie to want to
talk to her, when it was so clear the fellow did not know how to talk
to her.
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