"Well, I do," Sam retorted. "A man may fall desperately in love with a girl without even speaking to her."
"Well?" William questioned.
"That's just my case."
"Your case?"
Sam nodded.
"Explain yourself," William said, with a curiously numb feeling at his heart.
"Mind, I am speaking to you in perfect confidence," Sam said.
William assented.
"I was taken with Ruth Penlogan the very first moment I set eyes on her. I don't think it was pity, mind you, though I did pity her from my very heart. Her great sad eyes; her sweet, patient face; her gentle, pathetic smile—they just bowled me over. I could have knelt down at her feet and worshipped her."
"You didn't do it?" William questioned huskily.