"Look here, Cuckoo," he said, and his voice had never sounded more boyish, "last night I was drunk. Last night I woke up, and I'd been asleep for years."
"Eh?" she interrupted, looking puzzled, but he went on:
"I was emancipated, and I was mad. Mind, I didn't mean to do you any wrong, but if you have thought of me in a different way, I'm sorry. Tell me what you want me to be to you, and in future I'll be it."
Hope and eagerness sprang up in her eyes then.
"I say," she began,
"Yes."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
The dull blood rose in her tired face.
"I want just a—just a friend," she said, as if almost ashamed.