"Please don't be cross."
"Cross!" He came across the hearth and stood close before her, awkward no longer, but splendid with youth in the firelight, his dark eyes shining.
"You knew I'd come, no matter how hard I tried not to?"
"Yes," Judith breathed.
"And you meant to let me in?"
"Oh, yes."
"And you know, if I come, if you let me, I can't help—can't help——"
"What?"
"Oh, Judith!" He dropped on his knees beside her and hid his face. Judith did not touch the dark head that she could see dimly in the shadowy room, outlined against her cloudy white, but she leaned closer to it, her lips parting softly, her eyes wide and strange.
"I don't want you to help it," she breathed.