Page:Neith Boyce--The bond.djvu/355

Rh "It's hard to believe—it's so unreasonable," she said.

"That's just what reality—is unreason. Who can reason about a thing of this sort? It comes—nobody knows why."

"I've been so little to you, after all—not so much as I might have been, even." "You've been yourself. There's always one person that cares and one that submits to being cared for. … I wish I could take care of you"

It seemed foolish to mind his taking her hand quietly and holding it; but when she withdrew it abruptly, he looked rather pleased than otherwise.

"Want to soothe my wounded self-esteem? I wish I didn't see through it! You know that one doesn't like to be considered perfectly harmless—what a lot you do know!"

Teresa smiled vaguely, looking into the shadows of the forest.

"Don't you want to walk on?" she asked.

"No, it's better here. Stay a little longer." He lit another cigarette and smoked silently, looking at her now and then with a long, reflective gaze. Teresa was silent, too, conscious that it would be better to talk, but unable to find the right words. And the living, breathing silence of the forest, enveloping them softly, with golden lights, with mysterious shadows, made itself felt,