ould afford to let his want be seen was a new James. That which
stirred him--pity, need, desire, kindness--vibrated in his tones. To
hear was to obey.

He took her two hands and drew her down to his knee. He made her sit
there, embraced her with his arm. "There, my girl, there," he said;
"now let me know all about it. Upon my soul, you are a baffling young
woman. You will, and you won't; and then you cry, and I become
sentimental. I shall end by falling in love with you."

At these strange words she broke down altogether, and sobbed her soul
out upon his shoulder. Again he assured himself that he had never seen
her cry before. He was immensely touched by it, and immensely at his
ease too. His moral status was restored to him. He knew now what he
wanted. "You poor little darling, I can't bear to see you cry so.
There then--cry away, if it does you good. What does me good is to
have you here. Now what made you so meek as to come when I called you?
And why weren't you afraid that I should eat you up? So I might, Lucy,
you know; for you've made me madly in love with you."

It seemed to her beating heart that indeed he was. He held her very
close, kissed her wet cheeks, her wet eyes and her lips. She struggled
in his embrace, but not for long. She yielded, and returned his
kisses. So they clung together, and in the silence, while time seemed
to stand still, it really did nothing of the kind; for if he gained
experience she lost it.

He must have grown more experienced, for he was able to return without
embarrassment to the affairs so strangely interrupted. She must have
grown less so, because she answered him simply, like a child. He asked
her what had upset her, and she told him, a dream. A dream? Had she
been asleep? No, it was a waking dream. She told him exactly what it
was. She was with Mr. Urquhart in a horrible place--a dry, sandy place
with great rocks in it. "And where did I come in?" "You didn't come
in. That was why I called you." "You called for me, did you? But
Urquhart was there?" "Yes, I suppose he was still there. I didn't
look." "Why did you call for me, Lucy?" "Because I was frightened."
"I'm grateful to you for that. That's good news to me," he said; and
then when he kissed her again, she opened her eyes very wide, and
said, "Oh, James, I thought you didn't care for me any more."

James, master of himself, smiled grimly. "I thought as much," he said;
"and so you became interested in somebody else?"