Page:Barbour--Peggy in the rain.djvu/175

 her voice faltered. The blue eyes lifted to his, dark and piteous. "Oh, don't let me!" she whispered. "Please, please help me not to!"

For a long moment their eyes held. Then,

"It's too late, Peggy," he said almost sadly. Where, he wondered, was the ecstasy and triumph he had anticipated?

"It isn't!" she denied vehemently. "Not yet! You've no right to say that! I'm tired and I don't know what I'm saying" Her voice faltered into silence. She pulled at her gloves with trembling hands. "I want to go home, please," she whispered.

At the coat-rack he took her cloak from the attendant and placed it about her very tenderly. His hands rested for an instant caressingly on the slim shoulders and a faint odor from her hair reached him. Both left him dull and unmoved. She was his now, he told himself as she gathered the cloak together at the neck with unsteady hands, his for the taking, and yet the knowledge brought no leap of the pulse, no response from desire. For the first time since he had met her the sight and touch of her brought no thrill. He had the unpleasant feeling that they were utter