"I felt a curiosity to ask you—I did not know any one else who could tell me—what that 'helmet' was, you spoke of one day;—that day at the old priory?"
Eleanor could not look up. She felt as if the clear eyes opposite her were reading down in the depth of her heart. They were very unflinching about it. It was curiously disagreeable and agreeable both at once.
"Have you wanted it, these weeks past?" said he.
The question was unexpected. It was put with a penetrating sympathy. Eleanor felt if she opened her lips to speak she could not command their steadiness. She gave no answer but silence.
"A helmet?" said Julia looking up. "What is a helmet?"
"The warriors of old time," said Mr. Rhys, "used to wear a helmet to protect their heads from danger. It was a covering of leather and steel. With this head-piece on, they felt safe; where their lives would not have been worth a penny without it."
"But Eleanor—what does Eleanor want of a helmet?" said Julia. And she went off into a shout of ringing laughter.
"Perhaps you want one," said Mr. Rhys composedly.
"No, I don't. What should I want it for? What should I cover my head with leather and steel for, Mr. Rhys?"
"You want something stronger than that."