At most he agreed to a public theory that
she was "going to take a short trip and see what the East was like in
wartime."
She set out for Washington in October--just before the war ended.
She had determined on Washington because it was less intimidating than
the obvious New York, because she hoped to find streets in which Hugh
could play, and because in the stress of war-work, with its demand for
thousands of temporary clerks, she could be initiated into the world of
offices.
Hugh was to go with her, despite the wails and rather extensive comments
of Aunt Bessie.
She wondered if she might not encounter Erik in the East but it was a
chance thought, soon forgotten.
III
The last thing she saw on the station platform was Kennicott, faithfully
waving his hand, his face so full of uncomprehending loneliness that he
could not smile but only twitch up his lips. She waved to him as long
as she could, and when he was lost she wanted to leap from the vestibule
and run back to him. She thought of a hundred tendernesses she had
neglected.
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