She saw him often during the days of Lutie's convalescence, but never alone. There was considerable comfort for her in the thought that he made a distinct point of not being alone with her. One day she said to him:
"I have my car outside, Braden. Shall I run you over to St. Luke's?"
It was a test. She knew that he was going to the hospital, and intended to take the elevated down to 110th Street. His smile puzzled her.
"No, thank you." Then, after a moment, he added: "If people saw me driving about in a prosperous looking touring-car they'd be justified in thinking that my fees are exorbitant, and I should lose more than I'd gain."
She flushed slightly. "By the same argument they might think you were picking up germs in the elevated or the subway."
Anne looked straight into his eyes and said--to herself: "I love you." He must have sensed the unspoken words, for his eyes hardened.
"Moreover, Anne, I shouldn't think it would be necessary for me to remind you that--" he hesitated, for he suddenly realised that he was about to hurt her, and it was not what he wanted to do--"that there are other and better reasons why--"
He stopped there, and never completed the sentence. She was still looking into his eyes and was still saying to herself: "I love you." It was as if a gentle current of electricity played upon every nerve in his body. He quivered under the touch of something sweet and mysterious. Exaltation was his response to the magnetic wave that carried her unspoken words into his heart. She had not uttered a sound and yet he heard the words. How many times had she cried those delicious words into his ear while he held her close in his arms? How many times had she looked at him like this while actually speaking the words aloud in answer to his appeal?
They were standing but a few feet apart. He could take a step forward and she would be in his arms,--that glorious, adorable, ineffably feminine creation,--in his arms,--in his arms,--
It was she who broke the spell. Her voice sounded far off--and exhausted, as if it came from her lips without breath behind it.
"It will always be just the same, Braden," she said, and he knew that it was an acknowledgment of his unfinished reminder. She was promising him something.