"I am afraid she will become a martyr to a pride which interprets for her the old, outworn doggerel of ages dead.... I can't repeat it to you."
"Noblesse oblige?"
"That phrase occurs in it."
"Oh.... So Thusis, caring for me, will send me away," I said.
"I cannot answer you."
"Can you advise me, Clelia?"
She looked up at me; tears sprang to her eyes; she pressed my hands, but shook her head.
XX
A LOCAL STORM
I knocked very gently at Thusis's door and she opened it, signed for me to enter, then closed it cautiously.