Her heart was beating wildly; but nothing of what she felt expressed itself in what she said. “I'm by myself. I've let the maids go out. I'm terribly apologetic for having treated you so suspiciously.” He laughed and stepped into the hall. “I seem fated to find you by yourself; you were alone last time. I'm in hospital and have to be back by ten. Won't you let me sit with you for half an hour?” He had begun to remove his top-coat awkwardly. His awkwardness attracted her attention. “Please let me do that for you.” “Oh, I'm learning to manage. It's all right.... Well, if you must. Thanks.” She didn't dare trust herself. There was a pricking sensation behind her eyes. She motioned to him to go first. As she followed him up the stairs, she gazed fixedly at his flattened left side, where the sleeve was tucked limply into the tunic-pocket. She knew that when she was again face to face with him she must pretend not to have noticed. He entered the room and stood staring round. “The same old room! But it didn't belong to you then. How did you manage it?” “Easily, but not on purpose.” “Truly, not on purpose?” His tone was disappointed. “No, not on purpose. I didn't know the name of the square or the number of the house that night. I stumbled on it months later by accident. It was still to let.” “So you took it? Why did you take it?” “Because I'd liked it from the first and it suited me,” she smiled. “Why else?” “I thought perhaps...” “Well, say it. You're just like Robbie. When Robbie wants to tell me something that's difficult, he has a special place against which he hides his face; it's easier to tell me there. You men are all such little boys. If it's difficult to tell, you do the same and say it without looking at me.” She reseated herself beneath the lamp and took up her sewing. “Now tell me, why did you want me to say that I took it on purpose?” “I don't quite know. Perhaps it was because, had I been you, I should have taken it on purpose. One likes to live in places where he has been happy, even though the happiness lasted only for an hour.”