Her eyes flashed and she rose to her feet. "You have an Oriental imagination."
"Don't go—hear me out. It was a beautiful experience."
"Apparently it was. To me your story is insulting."
He lost patience a little, and said bluntly: "You act as if I charged you with something. I say, 'Altair' came, and to me her visit was very significant and beautiful, because she testified to me that both you and my mother were thinking of me. It was, in fact, your united astral selves that paid that visit. Altair was your materialized friendship and my mother's love."
"What a fantastic notion!" she said; but she lingered, held by something new and masterful in his voice.
She added, with some humor: "Be kind enough to imagine that your mother's 'astral self' preponderated in that vision."
"I do, for when Altair stooped to kiss me—"
"Stop!" she cried out, sharply; "you go too far!"
"Leo!" he called, and his voice checked her as quickly as if he had caught her by the arm. "I am not joking; I am very serious. You must remember that I have lost both my mother and Altair—you alone remain—I can't afford to lose you. You are all I have now. Don't be angry with me."
She considered him with a return to pity. "Forgive me," she hurriedly retracted. "I am very sorry for you, and I don't want to seem unfriendly; but it is only a week since we met. What can you know of me in so short a time?"