A curious strangeness to each other seemed to have grown up between them, as if they had known one another long ago, and had half forgotten.

When they had finished she rose to leave; but he asked her to stop, and, after the table had been cleared, he walked up and down the room, while she sat sideways on the window seat from where she could watch the little ships moving to and fro across the horizon, like painted figures in a show.
"I had a long talk with Nan last night," he said.

"And, trying to explain it to her, I came a little nearer to understanding it myself.

My love for you would have been strong enough to ruin both of us.

I see that now.