"No, no!" she protested faintly, dreamily, with a feeble frown on her
pale forehead. "Let me lie. Equilibrium has been established on the
Western Front."
This was her greatest _mot_.
Chapter 12
RENDEZVOUS
When the Italian woman, having recognised him with a discreet smile,
introduced G.J. into the drawing-room of the Cork Street flat, he saw
Christine lying on the sofa by the fire. She too was in a tea-gown.
She said:
"Do not be vexed. I have my migraine--am good for nothing. But I gave
the order that thou shouldst be admitted."
She lifted her arms, and the long sleeves fell away. G.J. bent down
and kissed her. She joined her hands on the nape of his neck, and
with this leverage raised her whole body for an instant, like a child,
smiling; then dropped back with a fatigued sigh, also like a child.
He found satisfaction in the fact that she was laid aside. It was
providential. It set him right with himself. For, to put the thing
crudely, he had left the tragic Concepcion to come to Christine, a
woman picked up in a Promenade.
True, Sara Trevise had agreed with him that he could accomplish no
good by staying at Concepcion's; Concepcion had withdrawn from the
vision of men.
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