Up went her hands again.
“Don’t do that. I—I can’t bear to see you cry.”
“Then why are you so unkind?”
“I don’t know; it’s my stupidity, I suppose; it’s far from my intention to be unkind.”
“I know! I know! I’m a nothing and a nobody; an impertinent creature who has come to bother you with a tale which you don’t believe, and which wouldn’t interest you if you did; and so you just make fun of me.”
“Don’t say that; not that. Don’t say that to me you are a nothing and a nobody.”
“I am! I am!”
“You are not.”
“Then, why do you treat me as you do?”
“Treat you! How do I treat you? There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you—nothing!”