Richard took me to a quiet little restaurant near Leicester Square. We had a table which was fairly secluded and after we had ordered and the food had arrived he said: “It has been wonderful to have you here.”

“We have thoroughly enjoyed it.”

“My mother was saying that Mary Grace has changed a good deal and it is all due to you.”

“Someone would have discovered her talent sooner or later.”

“Well, you did it. We are grateful to you, Violetta…all of my family are indebted to you.”

“I am flattered. But it all came about so naturally. She showed me her work and I saw immediately that it was good. Dorabella was absolutely enchanted with the picture of me.”

“We are all so fond of you. It is not only I…”

“And we of you all, of course.”

He paused for a moment, then he said simply: “As for myself…I love you.”

“Oh,” I stammered. “I…er…”

“You’re not going to say you are surprised and it is all so sudden, are you?”

“Well, we haven’t known each other very long.”

“Time doesn’t count. I know I love you. I want to marry you. How do you feel about that?”

“Well, I know it is supposed to be some sort of joke to say it is so sudden, but it does seem a little so. You see, we really don’t know each other very well.”

“One can get to know people very well in a short time.”

I felt uneasy. A picture of Dorabella and Dermot flashed into my mind. I had let that remark of my mother’s upset me. Everything must be all right with them. And what about Richard? I liked him. I found his company pleasant, stimulating. But I was not like Dorabella to rush into commitments with great haste.

“Marriage is such a serious matter,” I said. “It is a lifetime together.”

“Does that appeal?”

“I just feel bewildered.”

“You must know how fond I am of you.”

“I knew that you liked me. But this is more than that. We are talking about marriage.”

“There is no one else…?”

“Oh, no…no.”

“You don’t seem oversure.”

I was seeing Jowan Jermyn in the field when I had fallen, then smiling at me over a tankard of cider, showing me his house.

“Oh, no,” I said. “There is no one.”

“Then…?”

I looked at him. He was so earnest, a man of honor and integrity, who was devoted to his family, who lived an interesting life. Here in London I felt alive. I liked to be among people, people who were hurrying around on their own business, not watching you all the time, knowing where you came from, what you were doing. I liked Mrs. Dorrington…I was fond of Mary Grace…and Richard, too.

He was looking a little crestfallen.

“It is too soon, I see,” he said. “I just seized on the moment.”

“Yes, it is too soon,” I agreed. “I was never one to make hasty decisions. I should want to be absolutely sure.”

“So you do like me?”

“Very much.”

“You like my family?”

“Of course.”

“Mary Grace would be so pleased and so would my mother.”

“Mine would be, my father, too.”

“Then,” he said, smiling warmly, “the matter is in abeyance for the time being. Would that be all right?”

“I think it is an excellent idea,” I said.

“You are going to get to know me very well while you are in London.”

“And you will have to get to know me.”

“I know all I want to know already.”

“Am I so easy to read?”

“No, but I’m besotted.”

I laughed and he went on: “It is not No. It is just, ‘I am not sure.’ That’s it, isn’t it?”

“That is it,” I said.

“Well, I shall have to be content with that.” He held up his glass. “Let’s drink to it.”

It was a happy evening. I could not help feeling a certain gratification. I suppose it is comforting to be loved, and I had so often been overlooked because Dorabella attracted so much attention.

I liked Richard very much, and I was already beginning to believe that we could have a good life together. There was something real about Richard. I must be comparing him with Jowan Jermyn and in a way with Gordon Lewyth.

Richard was different. I supposed because he belonged to the town. I liked him. I felt I understood him. I thought I could be very fond of him.

But it was too soon. I should get to know him and his family.

When I returned that night my mother came to my room. She could not hide her excitement, and I knew that she was hoping I should announce my engagement.

“Was it a pleasant evening?” she asked.

“Oh, yes.”

There was a brief silence.

“Well,” she went on.

“Well what?” I asked.

“Did he…er…? Did everything go all right? Did he…er…ask you to marry him?”

“How did you know?”

She laughed. “My dear, it was obvious what was afoot. He is in love with you and has been ever since he saw you. He is such a dear. I am so glad.”

“You are going too fast,” I said.

“What do you mean? Didn’t he ask you?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t accept?” She stared at me in horror.

I said: “Are you so anxious to be rid of me?”

She looked deflated and came to me and put her arms around me.

“You know how important your happiness is to me and your father. Richard is such a good man…well, so right for you in every way.”

“I have not said no,” I told her. “But it is too soon yet.”

The relief in her face was obvious. She smiled indulgently.

“You were always the cautious one,” she said, and I knew she was thinking of Dorabella because of the faint uneasiness which came back into her eyes.

She said: “What is going to happen, then?”

“I’ve told Richard I like him very much but it is too soon for me to know whether or not I want to marry him.”

“Oh, I see,” she said. “He’ll understand that.”

“Yes, he does.”

“He’s a very understanding person…with good, sound common sense. Well, he is a lawyer.”

She leaned toward me and kissed me.

She stayed awhile and talked and then said goodnight and went to her room, not entirely dissatisfied.

The news was disquieting. The papers were full of it, and everywhere one went it was discussed so that there was no escaping from it.

Schuschnigg had returned to Austria where he had repudiated the agreement which Hitler had forced him to sign, and had announced that there should be a plebiscite as to whether there should be a political and economic union—an Anschluss—with Germany. Hitler’s response was to invade Austria.

He had the support of his Italian allies, while Britain and France, amazed by what was taking place, stood by and did nothing to prevent it.

Hitler was cheered by the people when he marched into Austria; there was no opposition to his mighty army, which could have been because Austria had no power to do otherwise.

However, it did show people clearly which way the German dictator was going.

Richard said: “There is no end to his ambitions. I rather think this is the beginning.”

He was right. Hitler was turning his eyes to Czechoslovakia.

Then something happened which drove the troubles on the Continent completely from our minds.

My mother and I had been out shopping with Gretchen. We had had a busy morning and returned to the house for lunch.

We were about to sit down at the table when my father arrived.

We could not understand what had happened, and when we saw him we were immediately apprehensive, for he looked quite different from his normal, happy self. He was strained, bewildered, and clearly desperately unhappy.

My mother ran to him and put an arm round him.

“Robert, darling, what is it?” she said.

He opened his mouth to speak, but did not seem to be able to find the words. He was choked with emotion.

“Sit down,” said my mother gently. “Now…tell us what has happened.”

“I had to come…I couldn’t tell over the telephone…I came immediately. She went down to swim…her clothes were on the beach…and she had gone…gone…”