Will you sit down ?' He still spoke without guidance of his tongue.

He was impelled by a vast tenderness; the startled look on her face made him reproach himself; he sought to soothe her, and was incoherent, awkward.

As if in implicit obedience, she moved to a chair.

He stood gazing at her, and the love which had at length burst from the dark depths seized upon all his being.
'Mr.Grail--' She began, but her voice failed.

She looked at him, and he was smitten to the heart to see that there were tears in her eyes.
'If it gives you pain,' he said in a low voice, drawing near to her, 'forget that I said anything.