“Before this there was a sort of restraint—a make-believe. It’s gone.”
“It’s gone.”
“Friendship and love being separate things. And that confounded engagement!”
“Gone!”
They came upon a platform, and stood before her compartment.
He took her hand and looked into her eyes and spoke, divided against himself, in a voice that was forced and insincere.
“I shall be very glad to have you for a friend,” he said, “loving friend. I had never dreamed of such a friend as you.”
She smiled, sure of herself beyond any pretending, into his troubled eyes. Hadn’t they settled that already?
“I want you as a friend,” he persisted, almost as if he disputed something.