"What do you mean? Have I ever been unkind? I—I am too unhappy to be unkind to anybody." Suddenly her eyes filled.
"Don't do that," he said; "you are always civil to me—never unkind. By the way, my relatives leave to-morrow. That will comfort you, won't it?"
She said nothing.
He leaned heavily on the table, dark face framed in both hands:
"Shiela, when a man is really tired, don't you think it reasonable for him to take a rest—and give others one?"
"I don't understand."
"A rather protracted rest is good for tired people, isn't it?"
"Yes, if—"
"In fact," with a whimsical smile, "a sort of endlessly eternal rest ought to cure anybody. Don't you think so?"
She stared at him.