Philip, holding her with his arm as though he were protecting her, went on: “And you’ve felt that I didn’t want you to ask me questions about her—and you’ve been silent. I knew that you were silent because you were afraid of my restlessness, and that has made restraint between us. You wouldn’t speak and I wouldn’t speak, and we’ve both been thinking of Anna until we’ve created her between us. It’s so like her—_so like_ her. Why,” he went on, “you’ll think this absurd perhaps—but I don’t know—it’s not so absurd when you’ve lived with her. I wrote and told her about us—about our engagement. I’ve never had an answer from her, but I can fancy her saying to herself: ‘It would be amusing to bring him back to me—not that I want him. I should be bored to death if I had to live with him again—but just for the humour of it. He was always so weak. He’ll come if I ask him.’ “I can imagine her saying that, and then I can imagine her just projecting herself over here into the middle of us—simply for the fun of it. I can see her laughing to herself in the way she used to when she saw people behaving in what she thought was a childish fashion. So now she’ll think us all childish, and she’ll simply come here, her laughing, mocking spirit—and do her best to break us all up.” “You’re afraid of her!” Katherine cried, as though she were challenging him. “Yes. I’m afraid of her,” he acknowledged. “Well, I’m not,” she answered. “She can do her utmost. She can laugh as much as she pleases.” “She shall be given no chance,” he answered eagerly. “See, Katherine! Listen!... All that matters is that we should be married. She can’t touch us then—Garth can’t touch us, the family can’t touch us. I suddenly saw it as an inspiration—that you’ve got to come up with me now—to London. We’ll get a special licence. We’ll be married to-morrow. If we catch the five-thirty from Truxe we’ll be up there soon after midnight. We can get a trap in Clinton to drive us over. It’s got to be. It’s just got to be. There can be no alternative.” She shook her head smiling. “What a baby you are, Phil! Just because Aunt Aggie lost her temper last night we’ve got to be married in half an hour. And what about our promise to father of a year’s engagement?” “That’s all right,” he answered eagerly. “If your father had wanted to break off the engagement before the year’s up he’d have done so, you can be sure.” She laughed. “But I don’t want to be married all in a minute. You don’t know how women care about trousseaux and presents and bells and—” “Ah! Please, Katie!... It’s most awfully serious! Please—” She was grave then. They stood up together on the little beach, her arm round his neck.