“Is he here? How did you come by his coat?”
“Are you frightened? The whole house fears him like fire?” And he explained how he got the coat. She listened absently as they went silently down the main path of the garden, Vera with her eyes on the ground.
Against his will he felt impelled to seek another argument with her.
“You seem to have something on your mind,” she began, “which you do not wish to tell.”
“I did wish to, but I feared the storm I might draw upon myself.”
“You did not wish to discuss beauty once more?”
“No, no, I want to explain what my feeling for you is. I am convinced that this time I am not in error. You have opened to me a special door of your heart, and I recognise that your friendship would bring great happiness, and that its soft tones would bring colour into my dull life. Do you think, Vera, that friendship is possible between a man and a woman?”
“Why not? If two such friends can make up their minds to respect one another’s freedom, if one does not oppress the other, does not seek to discover the secret of the other’s heart, if they are in constant, natural intercourse, and know how to respect secrets....”
His eyes blazed. “Pitiless woman,” he broke in.
She had seen the glance, and lowered her eyes.