Then she realized that no word had been spoken on either side, and she turned her head a little shyly, till she could just see his face, while the smile still lingered on her lips.

One hand rested on the mantelpiece, with the other she touched the artificial gardenia in her bodice.
"That is my answer, you know," she said quietly, and her eyes waited for his.
But he only glanced at her face, and for a moment he did not move.

Then, with a graceful inclination he took her hand and raised it to his lips.
She noticed even then that his own hand was dry and burning.

He did not trust himself to speak.

When he looked up, the room whirled with him, and he saw strange colours.