‘That was dear of you. Did you like it?’
He said:
‘I don’t know if I liked it really. Not very much, perhaps, but
I liked to know what you liked . . .’
He hesitated, and smiled shyly.
‘I thought it made me understand you better.’
I felt, somehow, nearer to Walter after that visit. I felt that
there was an understanding between us in relation to Maud. He
did not say it and I did not say it, but I felt that he was on
my side, and not on hers; that he was resisting what she stood
for, and defending me.
I had dreaded the meeting with Maud, and now it was over I did
not mind her; I was not afraid of her: it did not seem to me
that she would count.