"It's the extraordinary restfulness that puzzles me," said Sarakoff. "Here I have been sitting for hours and I feel no inclination to do anything."
"The thing that is most extraordinary to me is the difficulty I have in realizing how I spent my time formerly," said Alice. "Of course, father is no bother now and meals have been cut down, but that does not account for all of it. It seems as if I had been living in a kind of nightmare in the past, from which I have suddenly escaped."
"What do you feel most inclined to do?" I asked.
"Nothing at present. I sit and think. It was difficult for me to make myself come here to-day." She smiled suddenly. "Richard, it seems strange to recall that we were engaged."
She spoke without any embarrassment and I answered her with equal ease.
"I hope you don't think our engagement is broken off, Alice. I think my feelings towards you are unchanged."
"Ah!" exclaimed Sarakoff. "That is interesting. Are you sure of that, Harden?"
"Not altogether," I answered tranquilly. "There is a lot to think out before I can be sure, but I know that I feel towards Alice a great sympathy."
"Sympathy!" the Russian exclaimed. "What are we coming to? Good heavens! Is sympathy to be our strongest emotion? What do you think, Miss Annot."
"Sympathy is exactly what I feel," she replied. "Richard and I would be very good companions. Isn't that more important than passion?"