Indeed, I was afraid of you.' 'Afraid!' Drake echoed the word with an accent of wonderment.
'Yes, yes, afraid.

I believed that I should mean so little to you, that I should be of no use or help to you.

And that's why--I--I--married--' Drake straightened his shoulders with a jerk as Clarice uttered the word.
He became aware of the tell-tale look in his eyes, and lowered them from the girl's face to the ground.
'You mustn't fancy,' he began in a hesitating tone.

'You mustn't misunderstand.

I was thinking what men owe to women--that's all--that's all, indeed--and how vilely they repay it.