Well,luckily he had never made a sign!
When he came into the Gallery she was standing before the 'Virgin of the Rocks,'graceful,absorbed,smiling and unconscious.'Have I to give up seeing that?'he thought.'It's unnatural,so long as she's willing that I should see her.'He stood,unnoticed,watching her,storing up the image of her figure,envying the picture on which she was bending that long scrutiny.Twice she turned her head towards the entrance,and he thought:'That's for me!'At last he went forward.
"Look!"he said.
She read the telegram,and he heard her sigh.
That sigh,too,was for him!His position was really cruel!To be loyal to his son he must just shake her hand and go.To be loyal to the feeling in his heart he must at least tell her what that feeling was.Could she,would she understand the silence in which he was gazing at that picture?
"I'm afraid I must go home at once,"he said at last."I shall miss all this awfully.""So shall I;but,of course,you must go."
"Well!"said Jolyon holding out his hand.
Meeting her eyes,a flood of feeling nearly mastered him.
"Such is life!"he said."Take care of yourself,my dear!"He had a stumbling sensation in his legs and feet,as if his brain refused to steer him away from her.From the doorway,he saw her lift her hand and touch its fingers with her lips.He raised his hat solemnly,and did not look back again.