"You said he was dead."
"I know I did. I lied."
"… And before that—when he was with you and Trixie on that battlefield—Did he—"
"Yes. Then, too … You see there aren't any shreds. The only thing you can say is he can't help it. Nobody'd have been hard on him if he hadn't gassed so much about danger."
"That's the part you can't understand…. But, Billy, why did you lie about him?"
"Because I didn't want you to know, then. I knew it would hurt you, I knew it would hurt you more than anything else."
"That was rather wonderful of you."
"Wasn't wonderful at all. I knew because what you think, what you feel, matters more to me than anything else. Except perhaps my job. I have to keep that separate."
Her mind slid over that, not caring, returning to the object of its interest.
"Look here, Billy, you may be right. It probably doesn't matter to us.
But it'll be perfectly awful for him."