"Did you, then, feel any in my absence?" I asked.
Assja looked at me sideways.
"Yes," she replied. "Is it pleasant in the mountains?" she immediately continued. "Are they high? Higher than the clouds? Tell me what you have seen. You have told my brother, but I have heard nothing about it."
"Why did you go away?" I interrupted her.
"I went—because—— Now I will not go away," she added in a gentle, confiding tone. "You were cross today."
"I?"
"You."
"But why? I beg you——"
"I don't know; but you were cross, and went away cross. It was very unpleasant to me to have you go away in that manner, and I am glad that you have come back."
"I am equally glad," I replied.