She laughed, but he looked at her very seriously.
"No," he said, "it is not. I give you the best I have got, but it is not much for a young creature like you."
She flushed, and her face contracted for a second.
"Oh, I hope you don't think I am ungrateful," she stammered.
He shook his head. "No, it is only that I'm wondering if it was not wrong of me to persuade you to accept—so little."
"But, John, I——"
"Wait a moment, Grisel. I have been thinking about this for a long time now, and this seems the right moment to say it. Hallo! it's raining!" he broke off, looking out of the window.
"It has been raining for a long time," she said dully. "Go on, please."
The air, quickened by the quiet rush of water, came in refreshingly at the window, and the music upstairs had ceased, so that the silence was very perfect.