“Iamgoingoutbyandby。IamgoingtodineandspendtheeveningwithBarbaraHowe。ButIamnotgoingyet。Won’tyousitdown？“
“Iwillifyou’resureyoucansparethetime。Ihopeyoucan，because——well，becauseIdowanttotalktoyou。I’vehadbadnewsfromhome。Myfatherisill——andinthedoctor’scare。“
“Oh，I’msosorry。Ihopeitisn’tserious。“
“Idon’tknowwhetheritisornot。Itcan’tbedesperatelyserious，becausehewrotetheletterhimself。Butatanyrateit’sseriousenoughforme。HewantsmetogiveupmyworkhereattheHarvardMedicalandcomeWest。“
Marygasped。“Giveitup！“sherepeated。“Giveupyourstudies？