The gratitude which shone out of her swimming eyes seemed mingled with something which was almost invitation.

Laverick was suddenly swept off his feet.
Something had come into his life--something absurd, uncounted upon, incomprehensible.

The atmosphere of the room seemed electrified.
In a moment, he had done what only a second or two before he had told himself would be the action of a cad.

He had taken her, unresisting, up into his arms, kissed her eyes and lips.

Afterwards, he was never able to remember those few moments clearly, only it seemed to him that she had accepted his caress almost without hesitation, with the effortless serenity of a child receiving a natural consolation in a time of trouble.