Mufti by H.C. McNeile — Read

It was the following morning that Vane received a second letter from / Margaret. He had written her once -- a letter in which he had made no / allusion to their last meeting -- and she had answered it. Cases were / still pouring in and she was very busy. When she did have a moment to / herself she was generally so tired that she lay down and went to sleep. / It was the letter of a girl obsessed with her work to the exclusion of / all outside things.

Of course he admired her for it -- admired her intensely. It was so / characteristic of her, and she had such a wonderful character. / But -- somehow. he had wished for something a little more basely / material. And so with this second one. He read it through once at / breakfast, and then, with a thoughtful look in his eyes, he took it / with him to a chair on the big verandah which ran along the whole of / the front of Rumfold Hall. The awning above it had been specially / erected for the benefit of the patients and Vane pulled one of the / lounge chairs back from the stone balustrade, so that his face was / shaded from the sun. It was a favourite spot of his, and now, with / Margaret's letter outspread beside him, and his pipe held between his / knees, he commenced to fill the bowl. He was becoming fairly quick at / the operation, but long after it was well alight he was still staring / at the misty line of distant hills. Away, out there, beyond, the thing / called war was in full swing -- the game was at its height. And the / letter beside him had taken him back in spirit. After a while he / picked it up again and commenced to re-read the firm, clear / handwriting. .