"Ah," she murmured half sadly, half wonderingly, "what an egotist you always are! You meet me again—after the way we parted—and you begin by talking about yourself!"

He made a gesture—dramatic because it expressed the feeling that he desired to convey—and turned aside.

"May I question you?" he asked lamely the next minute. "Will you answer?"

"What is it that you care to hear?"

"Are you at the hospital?"

"Yes."

"For long? I mean, is it long since you came to Westport?"

"I have been here nearly all the time."

"And do—how—is it comfortable?"

"Oh," she said, with a movement that she was unable to repress, "let us keep to you, if we must talk at all. You'll find it easier."