But she had risen to her feet and was pressing the wounded hand to her lips.
"You don't know how it hurt!" she cried with a tremble in her voice.
"What good, precisely, d'you think you've done?" he asked.
She snatched a spill from the mantel-piece and thrust it between the bars of the fire.
"If you want it again——!"
Eric dragged her upright with one arm and rang the bell.
"We'll have coffee in the smoking-room," he said. "Barbara, what's the matter with you?"
She laughed almost hysterically.
"I feel I'm fighting for my life! That was to shew you I'd do anything in the world you asked me to! And you talk about our giving up meeting … like giving up smoking!"
Eric drew a chair to the fire and lighted her cigarette in silence. Only a fool would break that silence for twenty-four hours.…