She turned quietly and surveyed the marble mask with curious inquiry.
"Why do you say it like that," she asked; "as though you would rather not? Do you grudge it?"
"No." He spoke barely above his breath.
"How you say it!" she exclaimed, with a little laugh that could not laugh itself out, for there was a strange tension in the air, and on her and on him. "You might say it better," she added, the pupils of her eyes dilating a little so that the room looked suddenly larger and less distinct.
She knew the sensation of coming emotion, and she loved it. She had never thought before that she could get it by talking with Paul Griggs. He did not answer her.
"Perhaps you meant it," she said presently. "I hardly know. Did you?"
"Please be reasonable," said Griggs, indistinctly, and his hands gripped each other on his knee.
"How oddly you talk!" she exclaimed. "What have I said that was unreasonable?"
She felt that the emotion she had expected was slipping from her, and her nerves unconsciously resented the disappointment. She was out of temper in an instant.
"You cannot understand," he answered. "There is no reason why you should. Forgive me. I am nervous to-day."