‘C3!’ he said, with a laugh. ‘We need not have bothered!’ and it seemed to me as though my heart had stopped beating, and now suddenly it began with a rush.
And I said:
‘Oh, Walter, are you sorry?’
He sat down in the chair beside him, and faced me across the table.
He said:
‘Sorry? I don’t know; nobody likes to be C3, I suppose. Thank you for nothing—that is about all⸺’
I said:
‘I can’t be sorry. I can only be glad,’ and I put out both my hands to him, across the table.
‘It isn’t your fault,’ I said, ‘you have done your best. I think I may be glad.’
His eyes were fixed on the table, and he did not answer me; then he pulled his hands away, and buried his face.