'I thought so,' she said. 'Won't you kiss me?'
He stepped back as if in replusion. She looked at him with her beautiful eyes full of tears.
'I'm so sorry I've made you unhappy. But I've been unhappy too—oh, you don't know what I've gone through!... Won't you forgive me?'
'I didn't write the letter,' he repeated hoarsely; 'they stood over me and made me.'
Her lips trembled, but with an effort she commanded herself. They looked at one another steadily, it seemed for a very long time; in his eyes was the look of a hunted beast.... At last she turned away without saying anything more, and left him.
In the next room the three were anxiously waiting. She contemplated them a moment, and then, sitting down, asked about the affairs. They explained how things were.
'I talked to my husband about it,' she said; 'he's proposed to make you an allowance so that you can retire from business.'
'Oh, that's Sir Herbert all over,' said Mrs Griffith, greasily—she knew nothing about him but his name!
'How much do you think you could live on?' asked Daisy.
Mrs Griffith looked at George and then at Edith. What should they ask? Edith and George exchanged a glance; they were in agonies lest Mrs Griffith should demand too little.