What a thing to say! The last day. It filled him with a vague sense of dread, and it made him angry.
“That’s not—” he began, but she did not heed him.
“Listen!” she said. “You must help me! I don’t know what to do. I’m—I’m desperate! I’ve—” She stopped, looking up into his wooden face; then, seizing him by the shoulder, she tried to shake him.
“Oh, for Heaven’s sake, look at me like a human being!” she cried.
He stared at her, dumfounded.
“Stop it!” she commanded. “You’ve got to listen to me!”
He had never in his life been so amazed. She had flown at him, and shaken him! It was unbelievable. It was pathetic. She was such a little thing; so fierce, and so helpless.
“All right!” he said, mildly. “I’m listening. What’s it all about?”
His tone, his faint smile, did not please her.
“Oh, you think it’s nothing!” she said. “You think I’m just a silly girl, making an awful fuss about some childish trouble. Don’t you? Well, you’re wrong. Listen to me!”