“I was born near here; I used to know you.� She leaned forward, clasping her hands on her knee, and he noticed that her fingers trembled.
“I am an old man and forgetful,� he said pleasantly; “you must jog my memory. Who are the friends you wish to ask for?�
“Friends?� she repeated in a strange voice.
“You said friends,� he replied mildly.
She turned her face toward him, lifting her veil. “Don’t you know me?� she asked abruptly.
Dr. Cheyney, looking over the tops of his spectacles, eyed her gravely. It was a handsome face, slightly pale, with large eyes and full red lips, beautiful, no doubt, in its first youth, but lined now and hardened, with an indefinable expression which was elusive, fluttering, passionate, and most of all unhappy. The old man shook his head. She rose from her seat and crossing the room quickly, laid her large white hand on his arm. She was close to him now; he could see her breathing stir the laces on her bosom, and was sharply conscious of the agitation that possessed her and seemed to thrill her very touch upon his sleeve. She looked into his eyes, her own wild and sorrowful.
“Is it possible? Don’t you know me?�
He returned her gaze sorrowfully, his face changing sharply. “Yes,� he said soberly, after a moment, “I do now, Letty.�
“Letty!� She bit her lips, with a little hard sob, and her fingers fell from his arm. “My God!� she cried, “how it all comes back! No one has called me that in twenty years.�
Dr. Cheyney made no responsive movement or gesture; he stood looking at her quietly, curiously, a little sadly. He noted the dignity of figure, and certain fine lines of beauty that had rather matured than diminished, yet the change in her was for the worse in his eyes. Whatever there had been of passion and vanity and waywardness in her face in her youth had crystallized with maturity; there was a palpable worldliness in her manner which sharpened his conception of her as she must be now. The long gap in the years since he had known her as she was, until now, when she must be another person, was opened suddenly by the realization of the change in her, and it seemed to him that only a woman could change so much. Deeply moved herself, she was only half conscious of the criticism of his glance; she came back across the room after a moment and stood beside him, looking at the falling embers, the glow of the fire acting weirdly in its illumination of her face.