“Oh, I love you so very much, Dot! I can’t keep from writing to you tonight, even though I shouldn’t. I long for our kisses, our embraces, our plans for our rooms and our plans for our wedding. I miss helping you with supper. I guess I just plain miss you with all the miss that’s in me.”

He recalls how close they were all day on the Sunday she was here. They were together at church, for their “planning session,” the homework session, the trip downtown, their long and tender good night. The memories of that day make him miss her even more.

He confesses to her that he did something tonight he’d never done before; he found out about a test he hasn’t taken yet. It seems a fellow in his colonial lit class had a schedule conflict and was required to take the exam today. Dart called him to pump the guy about what was on the test. “I felt almost forced into collusion by the very nature of the grading and evaluations Prof. Carter has done in the past, and by his arbitrary methods. My plunge bothers me a bit, but not much. Maybe what bothers me most is that I’m not bothered more by my efforts.”

They called Crile hospital tonight and spoke with Pop’s friendly nurse. She said Pop is eating better and feeling good. She’d just given him a back rub before he retired to bed.

With tests tomorrow, this is all he has time to write tonight. He loves her.