Cousin Delia came with me to buy sheets.
It was June now, and the house was nearly ready. We were to be
married on the third of July.
She bought a great many sheets, and bath towels, and pillow-cases.
We were sitting facing each other, beside the counter, on two
high chairs; and then, quite suddenly, when we had nearly finished,
I felt that I could not marry Walter; I felt terrified at what
I was doing; I felt as though I was caught in a trap.
I don’t quite know what did it, but I think it was the sheets.
Cousin Delia was feeling them in her fingers, and she told me
to feel them. They were very fine and soft, and I liked the feeling
of them, and then I thought of them on a bed, and me in bed,
and Walter; and I realized that he would sleep with me, and be
as close to me as that; I had not, somehow, thought of that before,
and I felt it was impossible; I could not go to bed with Walter.