cheek; a blanket, coarser; and weeping. My hand is bare and has that ring upon it, still. Sue''s fingers slip from mine.
''You must be different now,'' she says, and I turn my face.
When I look again, she has left me. In her place stands Richard. He keeps for a second before the door, his eyes on mine; then he lets out his breath, puts the back of his hand to his mouth to stifle laughter.
''Oh, Maud,'' he says quietly, shaking his head. He wipes his beard and lips. ''Our wedding-night,'' he says; and laughs again.
I watch him and do not speak, the blankets pulled high before my breast. I am sober, now. I am quite awake. When he falls quiet, I hear the house beyond him: the stairs expand, throw off the pressure of his step. A mouse, or bird, moves in the space above the rafters. The sounds are wrong. The thought must show in my face.▽思▽兔▽網▽文▽檔▽共▽享▽與▽在▽線▽閱▽讀▽