"I haven't shown you the best of all," she said. Beneath them lay the
lovely city, starred with its golden lights. From east to west the
shadowy dimness of the Mall, beyond the shadows, a line of river,
silver under the moonlight. A clock tower or two showed yellow faces;
the great public buildings were clear-cut like cardboard.

Roger drew a deep breath. "If there were nothing else," he said, "I
should take the rooms for this."

And now from the lower hall came the clamor of voices.

"_Mary! Mary!_"

"I must not keep you," he said at once.

"_Mary!_"

Poised for flight, she asked, "Can you find your way down alone? I'll
go by the front stairs and head them off."

"_Mary----!_"

With a last flashing glance she was gone, and as he groped his way down
through the darkness, it came to him as an amazing revelation that she
had taken his coming as a thing to be thankful for, and it had been so
many years since a door had been flung wide to welcome him.