Was he really as sublimely free from anxiety as he wished her to believe, she wondered?
It was difficult to think otherwise, even though he had admitted that they were governed by circumstance.

She began to think that there was magic in him, some hidden reserve force upon which he could always draw when all other resources failed.
Another matter had also caught her attention, and this she presently decided to investigate.

She had never thought of Nick Ratcliffe as in any sense a remarkable person before.
"Did you actually carry me ten miles ?" she asked.
"Something very near it," said Nick.
"How in the world did you do it ?" Her interest was quickened.
Undoubtedly there was something uncanny in this man's strength.
"You're not very heavy, you know," he said.
His arm was still around her, and she suffered it; for the darkness still frightened her when she allowed herself to think.
"Have you had anything to eat ?" she asked him next.
"Not quite lately," said Nick.

"I've been smoking.

I wonder you didn't notice it." His tone was somehow repressive, but she ignored it with a growing temerity.