She asked if he was ill, and when a shake of the head answered the query, she covered the few minutes of his disconcertion with her conversation.

He looked at her gratefully and gathered his personality together.

For Love had come to him like a two-edged sword, dividing the flesh and the spirit, and he longed to cry aloud and relieve the sweet torture of the possession.
Reaction, however, came quickly, and with it a wonderful access of all his powers.

The sweet, strong wine of Love went to his brain like celestial nectar.

All the witty, amusing things he had ever heard came trooping into his memory, and the dinner was long delayed by his fine humor, his pleasant anecdotes, and the laughing thoughts which others caught up and illustrated in their own way.
It was a feast full of good things, but its spirit was not able to bear transition.