If
Desire had gone, she had gone because she could not stay. But she
had gone alone. Just what determining thing had happened to make her
flight imperative, Benis could not guess. But he would not have been
human if he had not blamed the other man. "The fool has bungled it!"
he thought. "Lost control of his precious feelings, perhaps--broken
through--said something--frightened her." We may be sure that he
cursed John in his heart very completely.
But when he entered John's office and saw John he began to doubt
even this. There was no guilt on the doctor's face--no sign of
apprehension or regret, no tremor of knowledge. An angry-eyed young
man looked up from a letter he was reading with nothing more serious
than injured wonder in his gaze.
"Can you beat it?" asked John disgustedly, waving the letter.
"Aren't women the limit? Here's this one going off without a word,
or an excuse, or anything. Just gone! And a silly note thrown on my
desk. I tell you women have absolutely no sense of business
obligation--positively not!"
Spence restrained himself.
"You are speaking of--?"
"That nurse of mine, Miss Watkins. Never a word about leaving
yesterday, and today vanished--vamoosed--simply non est! Look
at what she says.--"
Spence pushed the letter aside.
"There is something more important than that, John," he said
quietly, "Desire has left me."
The two men stared at each other. Spence was the first to speak.
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