“Perhaps we shall both know later on,” she said, quietly. “I believe we shall.”
He did not say anything.
“I saw that boy, Ruffo, this afternoon,” she said, after a moment of silence.
“Did you?” said Artois, with a change of tone, a greater animation. “I forgot to ask Vere about him. I suppose he has been to the island again while I have been away?”
“Not once. Poor boy, I find he has been ill. He has had fever. He was out to-day for the first time after it. We met him close to Mergellina. He was in a boat, but he looked very thin and pulled down. He seemed so delighted to see me. I was quite touched.”
“Hasn’t Vere been wondering very much why he did not come again?”
“She has never once mentioned him. Vere is a strange child sometimes.”
“But you—haven’t you spoken of him to her?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Vere’s silence made you silent?”