"Oh, I believe he is sleeping."
Then she steals from the room, and you begin to read again.
—Suddenly you hear a step
During a holiday in bed one never thinks, of course, of analysing his actions. If you had done so in this instance, you would have seen that you pretended sleep because you had got to an exciting passage. You love your wife, but, wife or no wife, you must see how the passage ends.
Possibly the little scene plays differently, as thus:
"John, are you feeling any easier now?"
No answer.