he had better pack up his instruments of warfare and recorders and come
down to Glendale, Tennessee.

Nell and I must have talked further along the same lines, but I don't
remember what we said. I have recorded the high lights on the
conversation, but long after I lost her I kept my whirlwind feeling of
amazement. It was like trying to balance calmly on the lid of the
tinder-box when you didn't know whether or not you had touched off the
fuse.

Has honeysuckle-garbed Old Harpeth been seeing things like this go on
for centuries and not interrupted? I think I would have been sitting
there questioning him until now, if Lee and Caroline hadn't stopped at
the gate and called to me.

I think Lee was giving Caroline this stroll home from the post-office in
the twilight as an extra treat in her week's allowance of him, and she
was so soft and glowing and sweet and pale that I wonder the Cherokee
roses on my hedge didn't droop their heads with humility before her.

"What's a lovely lady doing sitting all by herself in the gloaming?" Lee
asked in his rich, warm voice.

I hate him!

"Come take a walk with us, Evelina, dear," Caroline begged softly,
though I knew what it would mean to her if I should intrude on this
precious hour with her near-lover.

Please, God--if I seem to be calling You into a profane situation I