"Oh! you dear little goose," Michael interrupted. "Not one of those ladies mattered to me more than the other--they were merely to pass the time of day, of no importance whatever." "I dare say--but I am telling you my story, Michael--Well, Henry was so wonderful, so good--and it got so that he seemed to mean everything fine, he drew me out of myself and your shadow grew to mean less and less to me and I believed that I had forgotten you quite--except for the irritation I felt about Daisy--and then by that extraordinary turn of fate, Henry himself brought you here, and I did not even know the name of the friend who was coming with him; he had not told me in the hurried postscript of his letter saying he was bringing some one--I saw you both arrive from the lodge, and when I heard the tones of your voice--Ah! well, you can imagine what it meant!" "No, I want to know, little darling--what did it mean?" and Michael looked into her eyes with fond command. "It made my heart beat and my knees tremble and a strange thrill came over me--I ought to have known then that to feel like that did not mean indifference--oughtn't I?" "I expect so--but what a moment it was when we did meet, you must come to that!" "Arrogant, darling creature you are, Michael! You love to make me recount all these things," and Sabine looked so sweetly mutinous that he could not remain tranquilly listening for the moment, but had to make passionate love to her--whispering every sort of endearment into her little ear--though presently she continued the recital of her story again: "I stood there in the lodge after the shock of seeing you had passed, and I began to burn with every sort of resentment against you--I had had all the suffering and you had gone free--and I just felt I wanted to punish you by pretending not to know you! Think of it! How small--and yet there underneath I felt your old horribly powerful charm!" "Oh, you did, did you! You darling," Michael exclaimed--and what do you suppose I felt--if we had only rushed there and then into each other's arms!"