She snatched her hands away from his eager grasp.
"But tell me," he begged, in a whisper, before she could turn away. For a wonderful second their eyes read what the years of longing had set behind the iris for love to translate. Then she bowed her face, and answered "Yes."
He did not know if she shouted it, or but murmured it beneath her breath; it rang through his body and spirit like the chiming of a bell.
"Drag me away," he whispered to Hicks. "I don't want to make an ass of myself before all these people."
"You've done that already. Come into my study," said Hicks.
Hemming, scenting the truth, followed them.
"What is the matter with you?" asked Hicks.
"Don't you know your friends? Is that the real girl?" asked Hemming.
O'Rourke ignored the questions.
"Give me a drink of something," he said, and, recovering a little of his composure, smote Hemming violently on the back.