"Have none either, then," said Ferlie.
He had sent in his resignation.
"And from now on," he said inconsequently, "it is to be the truth?"
"Why not?" she asked. "Can anything hurt us so long as we are together?"
His answering smile was very wistful.
"I had great ideas of protecting and caring for the woman I loved when I was twenty-eight," he said.
"And I had great ideas of protecting the man I loved when I was seven," said Ferlie.
She gently placed little Thu Daw on his feet and took up her position along the side of his chair, drawing his arm around her.
"When you come to think of it, Cyprian, it was very stupid of us not to guess that we couldn't live without one another. The night I was frightened, and you came up and told me about Muriel! Do you remember I wanted you to marry the vicar's daughter in my sublime faith that her home-made chocolate fudge would utterly console? And you promised that whoever you married you'd always love me best. And then, I was the first to marry, eleven years later. Oh, Cyprian, Cyprian! I want to get out—I want to get out of the cage."
Her sudden sobbing hurt him.