So she stood here now, without even the thought of flight, not
arguing, not reassuring herself, not analyzing anything; but just
gathering strength, screwing the will tight, facing things.
And there was yet another psychological fact that astonished her,
though she was only conscious of it in a parenthetical kind of way,
and that was the strength of her feeling for Laurie himself. It seemed
to her curious, when she considered it, how the horror of that which
lay over the boy seemed, like death itself, to throw out as on a clear
background the best of himself. His figure appeared to her memory as
wholly good and sweet; the shadows on his character seemed absorbed in
the darkness that lay over him; and towards this figure she
experienced a sense of protective love and energy that astonished
her. She desired with all her power to seize and rescue him.
Then she drew a long steady breath, thrust out her strong white hand
to see if the fingers trembled; went down the stairs, and, without
knocking, opened the smoking-room door and went straight in, closing
it behind her. There was a screen to be passed round.
She passed round it.
And he sat there on the couch looking at her.
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