Nighttime Visits

Another dinner between Steve and Mary's family had gone well. Of course, Steve was very polite and sociable, so they usually had a tendency to go well. He seemed to be getting along with her uncle, and while the two men were in conversation, Martha had asked Mary about where she felt this relationship was going. Mary didn't want to cause a fuss, so she was deliberately a bit vague. She told her grandmother that she was very fond of Steve. Martha asked about if a proposal was coming, and Mary was again vague. She didn't want to have this conversation with Steve in the room, even if he was on the other side of it. For her part, Martha was concerned, though not distressed. She did like Steve. He just seemed terribly unsuitable for her granddaughter and she wondered what the British contingent would have to say about it. Being Martha though, the idea of their reaction kind of amused her and she decided to let the chips fall where they may. And at least he wasn't the chauffeur.

After saying goodnight, Mary went up to her room, pleased that they'd had another good evening with Steve. They were warming to him, even if Mary didn't think that they would be advocates for this union when the time came to tell her parents about it. She sat down to write a letter to Sybil and had just started when she heard a rapping at the window.

That was curious. It didn't seem to be a branch. Steve usually tossed rocks up when he was trying to get her to go out with him, but he had just left. Mary got up and pulled back the curtain, surprised to see Steve sitting on the other side of the glass in the tree that was just outside her window. She quickly opened it and stuck her head out slightly.

"What are you doing?" she asked in a hushed voice.