"As I said before, you did it badly," she said. "You took too much for granted. Isn't that true?"
"God knows I didn't EXPECT her to refuse me," he exclaimed, glaring at her. "Would I have been such a fool as to ask her if I thought there was the remotest chance of being—" The very thought of the word caused it to stick in his throat. He swallowed hard.
"You really love her?" she demanded.
"Love her?" There was a sob in his voice. "I adore her, Sara. I can't live without her. And the worst of it is, I love her now more than I did before, Oh, it's appalling! It's horrible! What am I to do, Sara? What AM I to do?"
"Be a man for a little while, that's all," she said coolly.
"Don't joke with me," he groaned.
"Go to bed, and when you see her in the morning tell her that you understand. Thank her for what she has done for you. Be—"
"Thank her?" he almost shouted.
"Yes; for destroying all that is detestable in you, Leslie,—your self-conceit, your arrogance, your false notions concerning yourself,—in a word, your egotism."
He blinked incredulously. "Do you know what you're saying?" he gasped.