Knew what that kid was headed for.
Knew there was nothing to be done about it. She had no flutters about
it, didn't pull a long face, didn't, as I told you, say a word. But
there was a look in her eyes, behind her eyes, somehow, that understood
and _faced_--God!--everything. And then we went in and had our tea.
"I had a thousand curiosities about her. I'd have found out anything I
could. But it was she who did the finding out. Beyond inquiring about
you, how lately I'd seen you, and so on, she hardly asked a question;
talked about indifferent things: New York, the theaters, how we passed
the time out here, I don't know what. But pretty soon I saw that she
understood me, saw right into me like through an open window into a
lighted room. As easily as that. She knew what was the matter with me;
knew what I'd made of myself. And by God, Aldrich, she didn't even
despise me!
"I came back here to kick this damned thing to pieces, give myself a
fresh start. And when I got here, I hadn't the sand.
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