He had become pale. He knew it.
"Hermione!" he said.
He was actually panting as if he had been running. He moved a few steps towards the edge of the summit. She followed him.
"You are angry that I didn't tell you! But—I wanted to say it. I wanted to—to——"
She lifted his hands to her lips.
"Thank you for giving me a child," she said.
Then tears came into his eyes and ran down over his cheeks. That he should be thanked by her—that scourged the genuine good in him till surely blood started under the strokes.
"Don't thank me!" he said. "Don't do that! I won't have it!"
His voice sounded angry.
"I won't ever let you thank me for anything," he went on. "You must understand that."