When it cleared, Mona had come a
step nearer to him, and then he saw her clearly. He caught his breath as
though Life had burst upon him with some staggering revelation. If she
had been a woman of genius, as in her way Kitty Tynan was, she would have
spoken before he had a chance to do so. Instead, she wished to see how he
would greet her, to hear what he would say. She was afraid of him now. It
was not her gift to do the right thing by perfect instinct; she had to
think things out; and so she did now. Still it has to be said for her
that she also had a strange, deep sense of apprehension in the presence
of the man whose arms had held her fast, and then let her go for so
bitter a length of time, in which her pride was lacerated and her heart
brought low. She did not know how she was going to be met now, and a
womanly shyness held her back. If she had said one word--his name
only--it might have made a world of difference to them both at that
moment; for he was tortured by failure, and now when hope was gone, here
was the woman whom he had left in order to force gifts from fate to bring
himself back to her.
"You--you here!" he exclaimed hoarsely. He did not open his arms to her
or go a step nearer to her. His look was that of blank amazement, of
mingled remembrance and stark realisation.
Pages:
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203