Page:Sanctuary (Wharton 1903).djvu/28

 what a difference it made to him in the end. It would have been dreadful to think of his dying out there alone.&quot;

She drew him down on a sofa and seated herself by his side. A deep lassitude was upon him, and the hand she had possessed herself of lay in her hold inert.

&quot;It was splendid of you to travel day and night as you did. And then that dreadful week before he died! But for you he would have died alone among strangers.&quot;

He sat silent, his head dropping forward, his eyes fixed. &quot;Among strangers,&quot; he repeated absently.

She looked up, as if struck by a sudden thought. &quot;That poor woman—did you ever see her while you were out there?&quot;

He drew his hand away and gathered his brows together as if in an effort of remembrance.

&quot;I saw her—oh, yes, I saw her.&quot; He pushed the tumbled hair from his forehead