Baird dragged himself up and stood with his back to her. "You hurt me—" he said through his teeth.
"I'd have to hurt you—like this—every time you came," Ann said with a drop into huskiness. "That's why I'm beggin' you to go an' stop thinking about me. I've got to go on livin' whether I want to or not, an' I couldn't bear it."
Baird turned around. "I'll go," he said. "I'll go to-morrow.... But I'm coming back, Ann.... I'll keep on coming to the end of time. I put my life into you that night—you're part of me. It isn't a debt you owe me, it's just that I belong to you and you to me!" He spoke with passionate conviction.
Ann said nothing; she sat with eyes closed.
Then he said thickly, "I've made you ill—is there any one here to look after you?"
"Yes—Aunt Sue—"
He bent down, took her face between his hands and kissed her lips. "I'm going now. I had to say that last—it's true."