He hesitated again, and Sophy said in a hard, clear voice:
"Do you mean that my husband is taking morphia again?"
"I fear so, signora," said Camenis very gently.
Sophy sat looking down at her hand which she clenched and unclenched as it lay on her knee.
"Yes—I think it's very likely," she said at last, still in that hard, resonant voice.
Camenis was silent for a time; then he said:
"I think your husband has suffered much for what he did the other day, signora."
Sophy's face flamed. Her eyes glittered.
"Don't speak of it ... don't speak of it...!" she cried, as though suffocating.
Again Camenis waited.