Micky had stopped stirring his tea; there was a sort of intentness about his big figure.
Esther looked at him, and suddenly she stiffened.
"Never mind what he says," she answered defensively.
June laughed.
"Oh, all right--sorry if I was inquisitive." She deliberately turned and began talking to Micky; Esther was left to herself, but she did not mind, she had enough now to think about. The longed-for letter had come at last.
She woke from her reverie with a start when Micky rose and said he must be going.
"And don"t you be so long before you come and see me again," June said in her downright way. "And don"t go without that sample, Micky--it will go in your pocket quite easily." She darted off to her room to fetch it, and Micky moved a step nearer to Esther.
"You have had good news?" he said.
She looked up startled.
Micky"s eyes flamed.
"That being so, of course, it is useless for me to ask if you have changed your mind yet?" he said again.
Esther gave a stifled cry.
"Are you trying to insult me?" she asked under her breath.
He half smiled.
"I am, if it"s an insult to ask you to marry me."
There was no time for more. June came back then with her hands full of samples, which she proceeded to stuff into Micky"s pocket.
He submitted laughingly.
"Supposing I get run over!" he said resignedly. "People will think I"ve been robbing a beauty shop."
"It will be a fine advertis.e.m.e.nt for me, anyway," June declared.
"Can"t you see all the halfpenny papers coming out with great headlines? Tragic Death of a Young Millionaire! Pockets Stuffed with June Mason"s Skin Food!" She laughed merrily. "That would be worth something, eh, Micky?"
"Heartless woman!" he answered. He turned to Esther. "Good-bye, Miss Shepstone."
Esther was glad that he did not offer to shake hands with her; she was glad that June went to see him off. As soon as the door had closed on them she took her letter out again; she pressed the paper to her lips.
It was worth waiting for, worth the heartache and disappointment; she closed her eyes for a moment and thought of Raymond Ashton. How she must have misjudged him in the past. It did not seem true now that they had ever quarrelled, or parted in anger; that she had ever been so unhappy that she did not want to live....
June came running up the stairs; she was singing cheerily; Esther smiled as she listened ... it must be wonderful to be always as happy and light-hearted as June.
"Well, dreamer?" said June. She shut the door with a little slam and came over to where her friend sat. "A penny for your thoughts."
She looked at Esther"s flushed face in the firelight.
"And so everything is all right after all, eh?" she asked.
Esther nodded.
"And I"m not really going to Mrs. Ashton"s after all," she said with a sort of shamefaced delight. "Only I didn"t want to say so in front of Mr. Mellowes.... Oh, aren"t you glad?" she asked anxiously.
"My dear, of course I am!" said June heartily. "But for the life of me I can"t understand how it is that this man of yours has got such an influence over you. He"s only got to hold up his little finger and you"re on your knees. I"m beginning to think he must be a kind of wonder after all."
Esther did not answer for a moment.
"No," she said. "He isn"t at all wonderful, really, except to me, and--and I love him, you see," she added shyly. "I suppose every man is wonderful to the woman who loves him."
"Until she"s his wife," said June tartly. "And then she thinks he"s all sorts of an idiot, and tells him so."
But Esther was too happy to take her seriously.
"You"ve never been in love," she said, "or you wouldn"t talk like that."
"And I never wish to be in love, thank you," said June. "If you and Micky are samples of objects who are in love...." She made a little grimace, s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up her nose in disgust.
Esther coloured.
"Micky!" she said, surprised into using his Christian name. "Is he in love? How do you know he is?"
"I"m not a bat, and I haven"t known Micky years for nothing. He hasn"t been himself for a long time. I"ve seen it, though I haven"t said a word. He"s in love right enough, there can"t be any other explanation, seeing that he"s too rich to ever be in debt, and they are the only two things that ever make a man miserable," she added.
Esther wondered if June was trying to sound her.
"I don"t know who the wretched female is," June went on, puckering her brows. "I"ve tried to guess, but it"s no good. There was a Miss Deland he used to go about with at one time, but I know that"s all off."
"Was he engaged to her?"
"No--not really! But her people wanted it, and Micky didn"t mind; he"d have drifted into it sure enough if something very tremendous hadn"t happened to make him change his mind. I know Micky--he"d have slipped into matrimony as easily as he gets into a taxi, unless some one had turned him away from it." She glanced down at the letter in Esther"s lap. "Tell me what he says," she coaxed. "Take pity on a poor creature who hasn"t a phantom lover of her own, or a real one either," she added laughing.
Esther hesitated.
"I"m never quite sure whether you"re laughing at me or not," she said nervously. "I know you don"t mean to, but----"
June laid her hand on Esther"s lap.
"I laugh at every one and everything," she said. "But it"s only my way, and doesn"t mean anything. Perhaps I"m a bit jealous--because you love this phantom lover so much better than you love me," she added.
Esther drew the letter from its envelope.
"I"ll read you just a few little bits," she said shyly. The blood surged into her pretty face.
June leaned back in a corner and closed her eyes. She held a cigarette between her lips and puffed at it lazily. There was a little silence; then Esther said suddenly--
"I can"t. It makes me feel too self-conscious. But he just says that he doesn"t want me to go into any berth just yet. He says that he may be home very soon now...."