"I understand." She gazed at him with incredulous eyes, in which joy and despair mingled, struggling.
He came slowly towards her, and stopped short.

His quick ear had caught the sound of a footstep outside the door.
"Quick! Dry your eyes! You must look composed.

The other room!" he cried, in an imperative tone.
He caught her hand and drew her swiftly into the further drawing-room.
With the quickness which came of long practice in hiding her feelings Sonia composed her face to something of its usual gentle calm.

There was even a faint tinge of colour in her cheeks; they had lost their dead whiteness.

A faint light shone in her eyes; the anguish had cleared from them.