h dear,
how wretched I am!" and poor Cynthia laid her head on my shoulder and
burst into tears.

"Come, come," I said, "you must not do that--I want my wits about me;
but if you cry, you will simply make a fool of me--and this is no time
for love-making."

"Then you do really _care_", said Cynthia in a quieter tone. "That is
all I want to know! I want to be with you, and see you every hour and
every minute. I can't help saying it, though it is really very
undignified for me to be making love to you. I did many silly things on
earth, but never anything quite so feeble as that!"

I felt myself fairly bewildered by the situation. My psychology did not
seem to help me; and here at least was something to love and rescue. I
will say frankly that, in my stupidity and superiority, I did not really
think of loving Cynthia in the way in which she needed to be loved. She
was to me, with all my grave concerns and problems, as a charming and
intelligent child, with whom I could not even speak of half the thoughts
which absorbed me. So I just held her in my arms, and comforted her as
best I could; but what to do and where to bestow her I could not tell.
I saw that her time to leave the place of desire had come, but what she
could turn to I could not conceive.

Suddenly I looked up, and saw Lucius approaching, evidently in a very
angry mood.

"So this is the end of all our amusement?" he said, as he came near.
"You bring Cynthia here in your tiresome, condescending way, you live
among us like an almighty prig, smiling gravely at our fun, and then you
go off when it is convenient to yourself; and then, when you want a
little recreation, you come and sit here in a corner and hug your
darling, when you have never given her a thought of late. You _know_
that is true," he added menacingly.

"Yes," I said, "it is true! I went of my own will, and I have come back
of my own will; and you have all been out of my thoughts, because I have
had much work to do. But what of that? Cynthia wants me and I have come
back to her, and I will do whatever she desires. It is no good
threatening me, Lucius--there is nothing you can do or say that will
have the smallest effect on me."

"We will see about that," said Lucius. "None of your airs here! We are
peaceful enough when we are respectfully and fairly treated, but we have
our own laws, and no one shall break them with impunity. We will have no
half-hearted fools here. If you come among us with y