I know it.

I know it." In reply, and quite without premeditation, his hand went out to hers, covering it as it lay on the railing.

But he knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that it was the boy that returned the pressure he gave, the boy sorrowing over the lost toy.

The thought chilled him.

Never had he been actually nearer to her, and never had she been more convincingly remote.
She was certainly not acutely aware that his hand was touching hers.