He heard the rustle of her movement as she bent towards him.
She came warmly close to him. She spoke in gently confidential undertone, as one who imparts a secret that is not to be too lightly given. “Because,” she said, “there are better dreams.”
III
For a moment it seemed to Melville that he had been addressed by something quite other than the pleasant lady in the bath chair before him. “But how—?” he began and stopped. He remained silent with a perplexed face. She leaned back and glanced away from him, and when at last she turned and spoke again, specific realities closed in on him once more.
“Why shouldn’t I,” she asked, “if I want to?”
“Shouldn’t what?”
“If I fancy Chatteris.”
“One might think of obstacles,” he reflected.
“He’s not hers,” she said.
“In a way, he’s trying to be,” said Melville.