Are you not happy because I am here ?" Her lips were seeking his.

His own touched them for a moment.

Then he kissed her on both cheeks.

She made a little grimace.
"I am afraid," she said, "that you are not really fond of me." "Can't you believe," he asked hoarsely, "that I am really Everard--your husband?
Look at me.

Can't you feel that you have loved me before ?" She shook her head a little sadly.
"No, you are not Everard," she sighed; "but," she added, her eyes lighting up, "you bring me love and happiness and life, and--" A few seconds before, Dominey felt from his soul that he would have welcomed an earthquake, a thunderbolt, the crumbling of the floor beneath his feet to have been spared the torture of her sweet importunities.