Page:The Painted Veil - Maugham - 1925.djvu/84

 “What are you laughing at? I see nothing to laugh at.”

“I beg your pardon. I daresay my sense of humour is peculiar.”

She looked at him frowning. She would have liked to say something bitter and wounding, but no rejoinder occurred to her. He looked at his watch.

“You had better look sharp if you want to catch Townsend at his office. If you decide to come with me to Mei-tan-fu it would be necessary to start the day after to-morrow.”

“Do you want me to tell him to-day?”

“They say there is no time like the present.”

Her heart began to beat a little faster. It was not uneasiness that she felt, it was, she didn’t quite know what it was. She wished she could have had a little longer; she would have liked to prepare Charlie. But she had the fullest confidence in him, he loved her as much as she loved him, and it was treacherous even to let the thought cross her mind that he would not welcome the necessity that was forced upon them. She turned to Walter gravely.

“I don’t think you know what love is. You can have no conception how desperately in love Charlie and I are with one another. It really is the only thing that matters and every sacrifice that our love calls for will be as easy as falling off a log.”

He gave a little bow, but said nothing, and his eyes followed her as she walked with measured step from the room.