Page 586 - sons-and-lovers

went pale.
‘No,’ she said, frightened.
‘He’s getting better. I went to see him yesterday—the
doctor told me.’
Clara seemed stricken by the news.
‘Is he very bad?’ she asked guiltily.
‘He has been. He’s mending now.’
‘What did he say to you?’
‘Oh, nothing! He seems to be sulking.’
There was a distance between the two of them. He gave
her more information.
She went about shut up and silent. The next time they
took a walk together, she disengaged herself from his arm,
and walked at a distance from him. He was wanting her
comfort badly.
‘Won’t you be nice with me?’ he asked.
She did not answer.
‘What’s the matter?’ he said, putting his arm across her
shoulder.
‘Don’t!’ she said, disengaging herself.
He left her alone, and returned to his own brooding.
‘Is it Baxter that upsets you?’ he asked at length.
‘I HAVE been VILE to him!’ she said.
‘I’ve said many a time you haven’t treated him well,’ he
replied.
And there was a hostility between them. Each pursued
his own train of thought.
‘I’ve treated him—no, I’ve treated him badly,’ she said.
‘And now you treat ME badly. It serves me right.’