Her eyes were certainly laughing now . Roger got up stiffly . `` I must confess I did not expect that you would ridicule my confidence , Freda , '' he said frigidly . `` It is very unlike you . But if you are not interested I will not bore you with any further details . And it is time I was getting back to town anyhow . '' When he had gone Freda ran to the west window and flung it open . She leaned out and waved both hands at him over the spruce hedge . `` Roger , Roger , I was a horrid little beast . Forget it immediately , please . And come out tomorrow and tell me all about her . '' Roger came . He bored Freda terribly with his raptures but she never betrayed it . She was all sympathy -- or , at least , as much sympathy as a woman can be who must listen while the man of men sings another woman 's praises to her . She sent Roger away in perfect good humour with himself and all the world , then she curled herself up in the snuggery , pulled a rug over her head , and cried . Roger came out to Lowlands oftener than ever after that . He had to talk to somebody about Stephanie Gardiner and Freda was the safest vent . The `` pursuit of the Ideal , '' as she called it , went on with vim and fervour . Sometimes Roger would be on the heights of hope and elation ; the next visit he would be in the depths of despair and humility . Freda had learned to tell which it was by the way he opened the snuggery door .
One day when Roger came he found six feet XXXXX young man reposing at ease in his particular chair .
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