Page 979 - of-human-bondage-

But their silence did not seem awkward. They found it
was pleasant to walk side by side and felt no need of words.
Suddenly at a stile in the hedgerow they heard a low mur-
mur of voices, and in the darkness they saw the outline of
two people. They were sitting very close to one another and
did not move as Philip and Sally passed.
‘I wonder who that was,’ said Sally.
‘They looked happy enough, didn’t they?’
‘I expect they took us for lovers too.’
They saw the light of the cottage in front of them, and in
a minute went into the little shop. The glare dazzled them
for a moment.
‘You are late,’ said Mrs. Black. ‘I was just going to shut up.’
She looked at the clock. ‘Getting on for nine.’
Sally asked for her half pound of tea (Mrs. Athelny could
never bring herself to buy more than half a pound at a time),
and they set off up the road again. Now and then some beast
of the night made a short, sharp sound, but it seemed only
to make the silence more marked.
‘I believe if you stood still you could hear the sea,’ said
Sally.
They strained their ears, and their fancy presented them
with a faint sound of little waves lapping up against the
shingle. When they passed the stile again the lovers were
still there, but now they were not speaking; they were in
one another’s arms, and the man’s lips were pressed against
the girl’s.
‘They seem busy,’ said Sally.
They turned a corner, and a breath of warm wind beat for

Of Human Bondage