“Yes, I have done so. I’ve been celebrating all day. I haven’t washed a dish; they’re all stacked out in the kitchen. And this—” she stood up deliberately and turned about that the other might see—“is my party gown, worn in honor of the occasion.” She returned to her 334 place and again the needle passed methodically in and out of the linen. “Are you satisfied?”
“Satisfied!” It was the rebellious cry of a dominant thing trapped and suffering. “Satisfied!” By pure force of will he held back the flood. “Elice, won’t you please put up that work—for to-night? It’s—ghastly.”
As though paralyzed, the white hands paused, for half a minute lay idle. Without comment she obeyed.
“You know what I mean,” said the man. “It makes me irresponsible. I want to throttle the something somewhere to blame.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. If I had expected for an instant—”
“Don’t, please!” It was supplication from one accustomed to command. “Talk about human beings being pawns in the game or straws before the whirlwind!” Again the curt repression by pure force of will, and the inevitable pause with the digression complete following. “I haven’t heard your report of yourself yet, Elice. It’s due me, overdue. I promised you not to write, and kept my word, you know.”
The girl looked at him with eyes that tried to smile.
“Ask me anything else and I’ll answer,” she 335 said. “This I can’t answer, because there’s nothing to be said. I’ve merely been waiting.”
“As you were to-night, when I startled you?”
The girl’s lips tightened, but they relaxed. She was in command now.