I am not completely happy because I know perfectly well that it is unnatural to live as I do.

If I met the man I could care for and who cared for me, I should prefer to be married." She had commenced her speech with the faintest tinge of colour burning underneath the wholesome sunburn of her cheeks.

She had spoken boldly enough, even though towards the end of her sentence her voice had grown very low.

When she had finished, however, it seemed as though the memory of her words were haunting her, as though she suddenly realised the nakedness of them.

She buried her face in her hands, and he saw her shoulders heave as though she were sobbing.