"I've got to tell you something——"
He turned quickly.
"Paula Mantone is near——"
"No!"
"I saw her last night."
"Will she see me?"
I laughed at him. "Do you think she would want to see you now?... You're a sick man, Varsieff—morally sick. Any decision is better than your present incapacity.... I think she must have sensed your weakness—that she came to bring you strength, for she is your strength."
"Does she love me?" he asked.
"That's a slap in her face to ask that—a woman who gives you her soul's strength—the love of her life. That's lack of faith, my friend——"
"I am whipped. The white-haired boys—they want to go home——"