"No. Yes!" she corrected.
"How?"
He bent forward to induce her gaze to rest on him, but was foiled.
"If you will not tell me, how can I make amends? Was it because I locked you from your own room?"
"No."
He noticed the tight grasp of her soft fingers against the window-sill. She was not as callous as she wished to appear.
"Was it because I treated the child without your leave?"
"No."
Her frame shook slightly, and two crystal drops which she was too proud to wipe away stood in her eyes.
Very gently he covered her hand with his own great one; very softly he whispered in a voice he could scarcely steady:—