He
drew a step nearer, so that he caught the soft contour of her cheek. Joanne
Gray heard him, and lowered her head slightly, so that he could not see.
She was a moment too late. On her cheek Aldous saw a single creeping
drop--a tear.
In an instant he was at her side. With a quick movement she brushed the
tear away before she faced him.
"I've hurt you," he said, looking her straight in the eyes. "I've hurt you,
and God knows I'm a brute for doing it. I've treated you as badly as
Quade--only in a different way. I know how I've made you feel--that you've
been a nuisance, and have got me into trouble, and that I don't want to
have anything more to do with you. Have I made you feel that?"
"I am afraid--you have."
He reached out a hand, and almost involuntarily her own came to it. She saw
the change in his face, regret, pain, and then that slow-coming, wonderful
laughter in his eyes.
"That's just how I set out to make you feel," he confessed, the warmth of
her hand sending a thrill through him. "I might as well be frank, don't you
think? Until you came I had but one desire, and that was to finish my book.
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