"Certainly," he answered, as if she had asked the most natural thing in the world. "Sit upon my knees, and I will hold my arms round you, till you are warm."
He settled himself on the marble limbs of the Aphrodite, and the frail young girl seated herself on his knees, and nestled to him for warmth, while he held her close to him, covering her with his arms as much as he could. They went quite round her, one above the other, and she hid her face against his shoulder. He could feel her trembling with the cold like a leaf, under the coat he had made her put on.
Suddenly she started a little, but not as if she wished to go; it was more like a sob than anything else.
"What is the matter?" he asked, steadying his voice with difficulty.
"I am so ashamed of myself!" she answered, and she buried her face against his shoulder again.
"There is nothing to be ashamed of," he said gently. "Are you a little warmer now?"
"Oh, much, much! Let me stay just a little longer."
"As long as you will," he answered, pressing her to him quietly.
He wondered if she could hear his heart, which was beating like a hammer, and whether she noticed anything strange in his voice. If she did, she would not understand. She was only a child after all. He told himself that he was old enough to be her father, though he was not; he tried not to think of her at all. But that was of no use. He would have given his body, his freedom, his soul and the life to come, to kiss her as she lay helpless in his arms; he would have given anything the world held, or heaven, if it had been his; anything, except his honour. But that he would not give. His heart might beat itself to pieces, his brain might whirl, the little fires might flash furiously in his closed eyes, his throat might be as parched as the rich man's in hell—she had trusted herself to him like a child, in sheer despair and misery, and safe as a child she should lie on his breast. She should die there, if they were to die.
"I am warm now," she said at last, "really quite warm again, if you want to go back."