“And because of that you won’t take her?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll make you—— For the last time, will you take her?”
“Not on those terms.”
Our voices had risen. A silence followed. Behind us we heard a sound. The temperature of the room seemed lowered, as though something we had killed had entered.
Turning, we saw Vi standing in the doorway. Her hair fell loose about her shoulders. She was thinly clad and had risen hastily from bed. Our quarrel must have reached her through the silent house. Her face was pinched and pitiful. As she watched us her eyes searched Randall’s in terror and her hands plucked at her breasts.
How much had she heard? How long had she been standing there? Did she know how we had been degrading her? What had she gathered from my last words? She had found us haggling over her as though she were a chattel, each one trying to force the other to accept her, neither showing any sign that he desired her for himself. In the chilly room we shivered, hanging our heads.
Slowly she crossed the room. Her eyes were fixed on Randall; for all the attention she paid me, I might not have been there.
“You didn’t mean it. You can’t have meant it.”
He lifted his head weakly, in one last effort to be firm.