Though he no longer watched her, he was intensely conscious of her presence; it weighed upon his senses, he resented it with every nerve. The odour of her cigarette permeated his thoughts while he waited, and he fancied that he could hear her breathe.
The nurse came in, and said that Lee was asking for him. She warned him not to remain more than a few minutes. The sight of her strengthened the boy. As he followed this clean-faced woman in her sober dress, a tinge of confidence lightened his apprehension.
Lee had altered painfully. His words were whispers. In the first moments there seemed something unreal in seeing him lying there so weak.
"Davie."
"Father."
"Sit down."
"Why didn't you wire before, father?"
"It was time enough."
"You're getting on nicely, they say."
"Perhaps."