“It would be too much for life to give. We have had something, Siegmund,” she said.
He bowed his head, and did not answer.
“It has been something, dear,” she repeated.
He rose and took her in his arms.
“Everything,” he said, his face muffled in the shoulder of her dress. He could smell her fresh and fine from the sea. “Everything!” he said.
She pressed her two hands on his head.
“I did well, didn’t I, Siegmund?” she asked. Helena felt the responsibility of this holiday. She had proposed it; when he had withdrawn, she had insisted, refusing to allow him to take back his word, declaring that she should pay the cost. He permitted her at last.
“Wonderfully well, Helena,” he replied.
She kissed his forehead.
“You are everything,” he said.