‘I think ... I think you’re a perfect dear,’ she said. ‘Oh, Kay!’
His eyes filled with light. Rather awkwardly he put his hand on her shoulder.
They kissed shyly, hesitatingly, as though afraid lest by doing so they should break the spell of beauty that bound them.
Hypatia listened, slightly frowning.
‘After that dress-rehearsal,’ said Sheila, ‘he told me.’
‘Told you?’
‘Told me that he ... liked me. I knew before, but he told me then.’
Her voice died away into silence.
‘Nothing can ever come near that,’ she said, in a low tone. ‘Nothing, ever.’