He was angry
with himself for the unaccountable sense of pleasure which her
suggestion had given him.
"I am not quite sure," he said, "whether I had better come.
Beatrice seemed quite anxious that I should not talk about her to
you at all. She did not like my coming to-day."
"You seem to know a great deal about my sister," Elizabeth
declared reflectively. "You call her by her Christian name and
you appear to see her frequently. Perhaps, even, you are fond of
her."
Tavernake met his questioner's inquiring gaze blankly. He was
almost indignant.
"Fond of her!" he exclaimed. "I have never been fond of any one
in my life, or anything--except my work," he added.
She looked at him a little bewildered at first.
"Oh, you strange person!" she cried, her lips breaking into a
delightful smile. "Don't you know that you haven't begun to live
at all yet? You don't even know anything about life, and at the
back of it all you have capacity. Yes," she went on, "I think
that you have the capacity for living."
Her hand fell upon his with a little gesture which was half a
caress. He looked around him as though seeking for escape. He
was on his feet now and he clutched at his hat.
"I must go," he insisted almost roughly.
"Am I keeping you?" she asked innocently. "Well, you shall go as
soon as you please, only you must promise me one thing. You must
come back, say within a week, and let me know how my sister is.
I am not half so brutal as you think.
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