"Downstairs. You were fast asleep and you looked so comfy I hadn't the heart to waken you. It's a wonderful morning——"
"But, Jim, I woke up all alone! I was afraid!"
He sat on the bed beside her. He took her in his arms, flattered. He gave her the chuckling consolation that the strong, knowing their strength, vouchsafe the weak. He was sorry that she should have felt badly, but he was immensely proud that she should be dependent.
"Too bad, too bad!" he said. "But it won't happen again. Next time I'll either rouse you or else sit tight till your dear eyes open of their own accord."
He was still holding the newspaper in one of his embracing hands. It rustled against her back, and, freeing herself, she saw it.
"What's that?" she asked.
"A newspaper, of course. I thought I should like to see what was going on in the world. It suddenly struck me that I hadn't looked at a newspaper since I read the notice of our wedding—five hundred years ago."
But Muriel pouted.
"Then," she said, "I don't see why you should begin now."
"One has to begin sometime."