Hilda watched him with perplexity.
"There's something troubling you, Bartley.

What is it ?" Bartley bent lower over the fire.

"It's the whole thing that troubles me, Hilda.

You and I." Hilda took a quick, soft breath.

She looked at his heavy shoulders and big, determined head, thrust forward like a catapult in leash.
"What about us, Bartley ?" she asked in a thin voice.
He locked and unlocked his hands over the grate and spread his fingers close to the bluish flame, while the coals crackled and the clock ticked and a street vendor began to call under the window.