He called in vain; those wonderful dreams—the hope of immortality, the joy of Heaven—would never come back; they had gone into the past, like that still form, deaf to his entreaties, to his cries—gone forever!
7
Mr. Garrison was getting into his coat in the hall; it was after nine.
“Good-bye, Julie, I’m off.”
Her answer came from above.
“Don’t go yet. I want to speak to you; it is something important.”
With a suppressed feeling of impatience, he took off his coat and went up the stairs. He wondered how much Julie would ask for. She was very extravagant. He was surprised to find her waiting at the door of the sitting-room for him. She had slipped out of bed and thrown on a filmy wrapper; he was struck anew by her youthfulness. Her skin was like satin. She was forty and could easily be taken for ten years younger; but her beauty had ceased to disturb him. It was an accepted fact, like his luck in business.
As he bent to kiss her, she noticed his hair was getting thin on the top. He would soon be bald.
He dropped down on the sofa beside her.