She paused, and then said impulsively: “I don’t know what you will think. I—I am so ashamed.”
“I hope not. There is no need.”
“I mean about—I am not English.”
“Are you not? You answered me in English,” I said gravely.
A little blush signalled vexation. “As if you did not know. It is no subject for laughter.”
“God forbid that I should laugh. You are too evidently in deep trouble.”
“And you know that I understood him all the time.”
I bowed. “I ask no questions.”
“I should like to explain, but I cannot. Oh, how humiliating!” she cried, and the distress and trouble in her tone touched me deeply.
“I am only a stranger, but if I can help you, I beg you to give me the opportunity.”