Something white caught his eye beneath the window.
* * * * *
Laura slowly raised her head.
Had she fallen asleep in her fatigue?
Helbeck, bending over her, saw her eyes unclose. She looked at him as she had never looked before—with a sad and spiritual simplicity as though she had waked in a world where all may tell the truth, and there are no veils left between man and woman.
Her light hat fell back from her brow; her delicate pinched features, with the stamp of suffering upon them, met his look so sweetly—so frankly!
"I was very tired," she said, in a new voice, a voice of appealing trust. "And there was no door open."
She raised her small hand, and he took it in his, trembling through all his man's strength.
"I was just starting to see if the train had brought you."
"No—I walked—a great part of the way, at least. Will you help me up?
It's very foolish, but I can't stand."