“Because I knew I had either hurt or offended you; and I would do neither.”
“You have done both so often that it should not cost you your sleep,” said she slowly. “But if you really want to be kind, why can you not have mercy on a girl who has been packed in a hat box for a month? Let me go ashore.”
“Can you not breathe quite as well where you are, Helena?”
“But I can’t walk.”
“Oh, yes, you can; and I will walk beside you here on deck.”
“But I would like to pick flowers, over there by the embankment.”
“The train is too close,” said I, smiling grimly.
Her color heightened just a little, but she did not answer my suspicions. “Please let me walk with you over there,” she said. “I used not to need ask twice.”
“Our situation is now reversed, Helena.”
“Please, let me walk with you, Sir!”