Fasten Safety Belts!” ordered the electric sign at the front of the aeroplane cabin. And Leslie, occupied though she was with her own private problem, could not suppress an instinctive thrill of excitement at this indication that her first flight was about to begin.“All right?” Reid, in the seat beside her, smiled at her as the plane bowled forward over the field, bumping over the unevenness of the ground with a slow clumsiness which completely concealed the grace and speed which would distinguish it as soon as it was in the air.“Yes, of course.” She smiled back at him. For was not their relationship one of pleasant friendliness? “I’m terribly excited, that’s all.”He laughed indulgently and patted her hand, reminding her yet again of the time he had done that when first they met.How angry she had been with him, that afternoon when he first asked her the way to Cranley Magna.She remembered exactly the feel of his long, strong brown hand on hers then, and how she had resented the familiarity.Now she loved to have him touch her.
