"You are going so far away from me," she said suddenly, warned by some woman's instinct.
He was startled at the conjunction of her words and his moods. He returned hastily, and sat down beside her. She took his head in her hands and looked anxiously into his eyes.
"What is it?" she said. "You are afraid?"
"A little," he said reluctantly.
"Of what—of the months that will come?"
"Of the past."
"What do you mean?" she said, withdrawing a little as though disturbed by the thought.
"When I am with you I know there is not a corner of your heart that I do not possess," he began evasively.
"Well?"
"Only it's the past—the habits of the past," he murmured. "I know you so well, Madeleine, you have need of strength, you don't go on alone. That is the genius of women like you—to reach out and attach to themselves men who will strengthen them, compel them on."