“Where shall I find you when I wake up?”
“Right where you leave me when you fall asleep.”
“Oh, no! You mustn’t wear yourself out watching over me.”
“Hush! You’re under orders. Give me the coat.” She hung it on the back of a chair. “Not another word now. And I’ll call you when time is up.”
He closed his eyes, and the girl sat studying his face in the dim light, graving it deep on her inner vision, seeking to formulate some conception of the strange being so still and placid before her. How had she ever thought him ridiculous and uncouth? How had she ever dared to insult him by distrust? What did it matter what other men, estimating him by their own sordid standards, said of him? As if her thought had established a connection with his, he opened his eyes and sat up.
“I knew there was something I wanted to ask you,” he said. “What did your ‘Never, never, never’ mean?”
“A foolish misunderstanding that I’m ashamed of.”
“Was it that—that woman-gossip business?”
“Yes. I was stupid. Will you forgive me?”
“What is there to forgive? Some time, perhaps, you’ll understand the whole thing.”