Reaction had set in. She had known it would come, and had made
ready to fight against it, but she had underestimated the strength
of the enemy. It seemed to her, in those first minutes, that she
had done a mad thing; that all those arguments which she had used
were far-fetched and ridiculous. It was useless to tell herself
that she had thought the whole thing out clearly and had taken the
only course that could have been taken. With Bill's departure the
power to face the situation steadily had left her. All she could
think of was that she loved him and that she had sent him away.
Why had he listened to her? Why hadn't he taken her in his arms
and told her not to be a little fool? Why did men ever listen to
women? If he had really loved her, would he have gone away? She
tormented herself with this last question for a while. She was
still tormenting herself with it when a melancholy voice broke in
on her meditations.
'I can't believe it,' said the voice. She turned, to perceive
Nutty drooping beside her. 'I simply can't believe it!'
Elizabeth clenched her teeth. She was not in the mood for Nutty.
'It will gradually sink in,' she said, unsympathetically.
'Did you really send him away?'
'I did.'
'But what on earth for?'
'Because it was the only thing to do.
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