She drew in her breath on the "Yes," so that it sounded like a sob. The other words came slowly from her, one by one, as if she repeated them by rote, without knowing what they meant.
Jane turned to her brother. "And you've let her do it?"
He was silent, still saying to himself, "What next?"
"Of course he's let me. He knows it was the only thing I could do."
"Kitty—what made you do it?"
Kitty closed her eyes. Robert saw her and gave a low inarticulate sound of misery. Jane heard it and understood.
"Kitty," she said, "have you made him believe you don't care for him?"
She sat down on the couch beside her and covered her hands with her own.
"It isn't true, Robert," she said. "She doesn't know what she's doing. Kitty, tell him it isn't true."
The trembling hands broke loose from her. Kitty sobbed once and was still. At the sound Robert turned on Jane.