"You DO do something," she said, deeply stirred in her turn. "I'm--you don't know how fond I am of you, Greg!"
For answer she felt his arms about her, and for a throbbing minute they stood so; Rachael braced lightly, her beautiful breast rising and falling, her breath coming quickly. Her magnificent eyes, wide-open, like a frightened child's, were fixed steadily upon him. He caught the fragrance of her hair, of her fresh skin; he felt the softness and firmness of her slender arms.
"Rachael!" he said, in a sharp whisper. "Don't--don't say that--if you don't--mean it!"
"Greg!" she answered, in the same tone. "Don't--frighten me!"
Instantly she was free, and he was standing by the fire with folded arms, looking at her.
"You have missed love, and I have missed it," Warren Gregory said presently. "We'll be patient, Rachael. I'll wait; we'll both wait--"
"Greg!" she could only answer still in that stricken whisper, still pale. She stood just as he had left her.
A silence fell between them. The physician took out a cigarette from his gold case with trembling ringers.
"I'm a little giddy, Rachael," he said after a moment. "I--on my honor I don't know what's happened to me! You're the most wonderful woman in the world--I've always thought that--but it never occurred to me--the possibility--"
He paused, confused, unable to find the right words.