Noll nodded, smiling sadly:
“Yes, I must see her—at once.”
“Come along then,” said she, leading the way upstairs. She put her fingers on her lips as sign for silence, and after that she spoke never a word until she reached the topmost landing, knocked at the attic door, flung it open; and, as Noll stepped into the room, shut it again softly, and crept gently down the stairs....
Before the snowy bed stood Betty in her white night-gown and in her arms she held a little child, crooning to it a low-voiced lullaby.
She looked up as the door opened:
“Noll!”
Noll strode over to her, dumb with an overwhelming passion for her, his heart leaping with a great surprise, walked as in a dream, knelt down at her feet, put his arms about her limbs and buried his face in the thin fabric of her nightdress.
“Betty,” he said hoarsely—“why did you not tell me this?”
She laughed sadly:
“I tried to tell you—so many times, Noll—but—you would not listen——”