“Why did you say that?” she cried. “You’ve made me feel sad!”
With a gesture of contrition Winthrop reached across and laid his hand for an instant on hers.
“My dear, I am sorry; forget it if it troubles you; I have been talking nonsense, sheer nonsense.”
But she shook her head, examining his face gravely.
“No, I don’t reckon you have; but—I don’t understand quite what you mean. Only——” She paused, and presently asked:
“Didn’t you live when you ruled? Are you regretting?”
Winthrop shrugged his shoulders.
“That,” he answered, smilingly, “is the sorry part of it; one always regrets. Come, let’s go in to dinner. I heard the bell, didn’t I?”