Amaryllis was only conscious that Denzil seemed the reality of her dream of John, and that she liked his nearness--and Denzil only knew that he loved her extremely and must banish emotion and remember his given word. So he pulled himself together when she sat up presently and began talking again, and gradually the atmosphere of throbbing excitement between them calmed. They spoke of each other's tastes and likings and found many to be the same. Then they spoke of books, and each discovered that the other was sufficiently well read to be able to discuss varied favourite authors. An understanding and sympathy had grown up between them before they reached Westbury, and yet Denzil was really trying to keep his word in the spirit as well as the letter. Amaryllis felt no constraint--she was more friendly than she would have been with any other man she knew so slightly. Were they not cousins, and was it not perfectly natural! They talked of Oxford and of the effect it had upon young men, and again they spoke of Stepan and of the dream he and Denzil shared. "You will go into Parliament, I suppose, when you come back from the war?" she remarked at last. "If you have dreams they should become realities...." "That is what I intend to do. The war may last a long time though--but it ought to teach one something, and England will be a vastly different place after it, and perhaps the younger men who have fought may have a greater chance." "You have pet theories, of course." "I suppose so--I believe that the first great step will be to give the people better homes--the housing question is what I am going to devote my energy to. I am sure it is the root of nearly every evil. Every man and woman who works should have the right to a good home. I have two supreme interests--that is one, and the other is elimination of the wastrels and the unfit. I am quite ruthless, perhaps, you will think. But there is such a sickening lot of mawkish sentiment mixed up with nearly every scheme to benefit workers. I agree with Stepan who always preaches: Get down to the commonsense point of view about a thing. Prune the convention and religion and sentimentality first and then you can judge." Amaryllis thought for a moment; her eyes became wide and dreamy, and her charmingly set head was a little thrown back. Denzil took in the line of her white throat and the curve of her chin--it was not weak. Why was it that women with the possibilities of this one always seemed to be some other man's property! He had never come across such charm in girls. Or was it that marriage developed charm? They neither of them spoke for a minute or two, each busy with speculation. "I want to do something," Amaryllis said at last, "not, only just make shirts and socks," and then the pink flushed her cheeks again suddenly as she remembered that she would not be fit for more strenuous work for quite a long time--and then the war would be over, of course.