“Ah, no. He is too generous.”
“Then how do you know?”
“My dear, when you leave a cut flower in the sun you know it will be withered up. There is no need for you to watch it to make sure.”
“But—if he still loves you? He did last night—he did this morning.”
Katherine gently laid her hand on the girl's lips.
“Hush! I told you. What I have done can't be undone.”
“But you love him, Katherine,” Felicia burst out impetuously.
“Don't you see I am signing my death-warrant?” cried Katherine.
Her voice vibrated and she looked at Felicia with shining eyes—“I shall love him till I die, as the best and wisest man of men that has ever walked the earth.”
She rose, crossed the room, came back and laid her hands upon Felicia's shoulders, and looked into her young, wondering eyes.