And I think he is the finest character of a
man I have ever known. It is only to you, Mamma, I would tell all this,
because you will understand.
It was so hot he had no coat on, only his flannel shirt, and his
trousers tucked into his long boots, and the grim gun stuck in his belt.
He looked extremely attractive with that felt hat slouched over his
eyes. He seemed to be gazing into distance as if alone, and then, after
a while, he turned and looked at me, and his eyes were full of pain like
a tortured animal, and I felt a wrench at my heart. Then he clasped his
hands tight together as though he were afraid he should take mine, and
he said the dearest things a man could say to a woman--how the stress of
the situation last night had forced from him an avowal of his love
for me. "I never meant to tell you, my sweet lady," he said. "I am no
weakling, I hope, to go snivelling over what is not for me; and when I
comprehended you were married, on the Lusitania, I just faced up the
situation and vowed I'd be a strong man."
Then he paused a moment as if his throat were dry: "No one can control
his emotion of love for a woman," he went on; "the sentiment he feels,
I mean, but the strong man controls the demonstration.
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