"What's all this? What's all this?" he reiterated, until out of the throng of presences he distinguished dimly a woman's form. He smiled at it. He was almost wide awake now.
"Is it Rose?" he said.
"No, Papa. It's Nina."
Mr. Gunning became dejected. If it had been Rose she would have sat beside him and talked to him a little while.
He was perfectly wide awake now; he had seen Prothero; and the sight of Prothero revived in him his one idea. His idea was that every man who saw Laura would want to pick the little thing up and carry her away from him. He was haunted by the fear of losing Laura. He had lost everything he had and had forgotten it; but a faint memory of disaster persisted in his idea.
"What are you going to do with my little girl?" he said. "You're not going to take her away? I won't have that. I won't have that."
"Isn't he funny?" said Laura, unabashed. And from where she knelt, there on the verge of her terror, she looked up at the young man and laughed. She laughed lest Prothero should feel uncomfortable.
Nina had risen for departure, and with a slow, reluctant movement of his long body, Prothero rose too. Nina could have sworn that almost he bowed his head over Laura's hand.
"May I come and see you again some day?" he said. And she said she would be very glad.
That was all.