She suddenly straightened up and looked into his face. Their eyes met — Valancy was suddenly conscious of a delicious weakness. Was one of her heart attacks coming on? — But this was a new symptom.

His eyes, which she had always thought brown, now seen close, were deep violet — translucent and intense. Neither of his eyebrows looked like the other. He was thin — too thin — she wished she could feed him up a bit — she wished she could sew the buttons on his coat — and make him cut his hair — and shave every day. There was something in his face — one hardly knew what it was. Tiredness? Sadness? Disillusionment? He had dimples in his thin cheeks when he smiled. All these thoughts flashed through Valancy’s mind in that one moment while his eyes looked into hers.