"You say that, in my case, noblesse oblige means nothing to me."
She blushed scarlet: "I was angry—hurt. I did not mean that."
"You meant it."
"I did not! I tried to believe I meant it. I knew it wasn't true. I knew it would anger you; that is why I said it."
"Then why are you afraid of me?"
"I?"
"Yes, you, Thusis."
"I am not. I am afraid of nobody.... Except ... myself."
She looked up at me again, flushed, lovely, and her gray eyes seemed distressed.
"It's just myself, Don Michael," she said with a forced smile. "I seem changed, different,—and it alarms me—scares me—to find myself capable of behaving so—so imprudently—with you."