Do you think I shall ever succeed,
Sylvia? Do you think it will ever come and nestle against my
heart?"
Again his words went into silence. The girl's eyes were fixed upon
the stretch of sandy _veldt_ below her and that which it held.
Silently the man watched her, his keen eyes very steady, very
determined.
She lifted her own at last, and met them with brave directness.
"You know, partner," she said, "it isn't very fair of you to ask me
such a thing as that. You can't have--everything."
"All right," said Burke, and felt in his pocket for his pipe.
"Consider it unsaid!"
His abrupt acceptance of her remonstrance was curiously
disconcerting. The mastery of his look had led her to expect
something different. She watched him dumbly as he filled his pipe
with quiet precision.
Finally, as he looked at her again, she spoke. "I don't want to
seem over-critical--ungrateful, but--" her breath came
quickly--"though you have been so awfully good to me, I can't help
feeling--that you might have done more for Guy, if--if you had been
kinder when he went wrong. And--" her eyes filled with sudden
tears--"that thought spoils--just everything."
"I see," said Burke, and though his lips were grim his voice was
wholly free from harshness. "Mrs. Merston told you all about it,
did she?"
Sylvia's colour rose again.
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