Page:The Old Countess (1927).pdf/348

 'Did you? I wonder,' Dick murmured, his eyes on the fire.

'Well, I knew I loved her before you did,' Jill amended, gently. And this Dick, apparently, accepted.

'There's nothing left for us to go on with, is there?' Jill continued. 'We care for each other, just as much as ever, no doubt. But that's not enough, now. You've never cared for anybody as you do for Marthe. And you can't go on without her. Or she without you, for that matter; though she thinks she can.'

'Dick seemed to ponder, his eyes still on the fire. He brought them to her as he said at last; 'But how can I go on without ''you? ' ''

And at that, after a moment, Jill got up and walked away to the window.

But Dick followed her. He came behind her and laid his hands on her shoulders and turned her round so that he looked down into her eyes. 'How could you go on without me, Jill?' he asked.

'If she allowed her thoughts to rest for one moment on her own shipwreck, Jill knew that her tears must gush forth; and if she wept Dick's arms would go round her. She yearned for his arms; but they would sear her flesh. She held her eyes widely open while she looked up at him, a wide, tragic gaze from the eyes so framed for mirth, and she asked in her turn: 'But how could I go on with you, Dick?'

'You've never meant so much to me,' he said, looking down into those wide eyes. 'I've never loved you so much.'