"—And so p-pleasant and c-cordial and——"
No response.
She looked at the young fellow who sat there with head bowed in his hands; and her blue eyes grew wistful.[244]
"Are you in physical pain?"
"Mental," he said in a muffled voice.
"I am sorry. Don't you believe that I am?" she asked pitifully.
"You would not be sorry if you knew why I am suffering," he muttered.
"How can you say that?" she exclaimed warmly. "Do you think I am ungrateful? Do you think I am insensible to delicate and generous emotions? Do you suppose I could ever forget what you have done for me?"
"Suppose," he said in a muffled voice, "I turned out to be a—a villain?"
"You couldn't!"