"'Yes,' I made bold to say.
"'When?'
"'In a few days, I hope.'
"She said nothing more about you, nor did I. A moment later she sent away her pony and went indoors.
"After luncheon I found her lying in the hammock in the patio, eyes closed as though asleep. She lay there all the afternoon—an unusual thing for her.
"Toward sundown, as I was entering my chair to go back to the hotel, she came out and stood beside the chair looking at me as though she was trying to say something. I don't know what it might have been, for she never said it, but she bent down and laid her cheek against mine for a moment, and drew my head around, searching my eyes.
"I don't know whether I was right or wrong, but I said: 'There is no one to compare with you, Shiela, in your new incarnation of health and youth. I never before knew you; I don't think you ever before knew yourself.'
"'Not entirely,' she said.
"'Do you now?'
"'I think so.... May I ask you something?'