And then she saw that his head had begun to droop forward, and realised that he was on the verge of another collapse.

Instinctively she slipped her arm about his shoulders, supporting him.

He was shuddering all over.

She drew his head to rest against her.
A long time passed thus, she kneeling motionless, holding him, while he panted against her breast, struggling with dogged persistence to master the weakness that threatened to overpower him.

It was terrible to see him so, he the arrogant, the fierce, the overbearing, thus humbled to the earth before her.