'Don't be naughty, dear,' he said. 'You know that I love you.'
She assumed a chiding look.
'I am afraid you are inclined to put off the universal deliverance. You are grovelling in egotism and delusions again.'
'Hold your tongue, you wicked tease!'
He sprang up and chased her round the room, as she continued to hurl at him fragments of pessimistic philosophy with all the solemnity of a doctor of the Sorbonne. But when he caught hold of her, he no longer dared to keep her within his grasp, and pinch her for punishment as in olden time.
One day when he was chasing her round the room, and had succeeded in getting close, he clutched her by the waist. She broke into a ringing laugh, while he, holding her against the wardrobe, quivered with excitement as he felt her struggling.
'Ah! I have got you this time!' he cried.
Their faces were touching, and she still laughed, though in an uneasy manner.
'Please let me go,' she entreated. 'I won't be naughty any more.'
He roughly planted a kiss on her lips. Then the whole room appeared to swim round them and a hot feverish gust seemed to sweep them into space. She staggered, and then, with a sudden effort, released herself from her cousin's grasp. For a moment they both stood silent and confused, their cheeks crimson as they avoided each other's glance. At last Pauline dropped upon a chair to get her breath.