He
had no illusions about her; but his sceptical mind was dominated by the
fulness of his heart.
"Calm yourself, calm yourself," he murmured in her ear, returning her
clasp at first mechanically, and afterwards with a growing appreciation
of her distressed humanity. The heaving of her breast and the trembling
of all her limbs, in the closeness of his embrace, seemed to enter his
body, to infect his very heart. While she was growing quieter in his
arms, he was becoming more agitated, as if there were only a fixed
quantity of violent emotion on this earth. The very night seemed
more dumb, more still, and the immobility of the vague, black shapes,
surrounding him more perfect.
"It will be all right," he tried to reassure her, with a tone of
conviction, speaking into her ear, and of necessity clasping her more
closely than before.
Either the words or the action had a very good effect. He heard a light
sigh of relief. She spoke with a calmed ardour.
"Oh, I knew it would be all right from the first time you spoke to me!
Yes, indeed, I knew directly you came up to me that evening. I knew it
would be all right, if you only cared to make it so; but of course I
could not tell if you meant it. 'Command me,' you said. Funny thing for
a man like you to say. Did you really mean it? You weren't making fun of
me?"
He protested that he had been a serious person all his life.
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