Expectant as he was of this reply, and resolved as he was, to hear
it unmoved, he had miscalculated his strength or his power of
concealment, for he turned aside immediately upon hearing it, and
walked away from her towards the further extremity of the room.
Covertly she watched him; first through her veil, and then with it
partly removed. She did not understand his mood; and she hardly
understood her own. When she entered upon this interview, her mind
had been so intent upon one purpose that it seemed to absorb all
her faculties and reach every corner of her heart; yet here she
was, after the exchange of many words between them, with her
purpose uncommunicated and her heart unrelieved, staring at him
not in the interest of her own griefs, but in commiseration of
his.

Yet when he faced her once more every thought vanished from her
mind save the one which had sustained her through the
extraordinary measures she had taken to secure herself this
opportunity of presenting her lost cause to the judgment of the
only man from whom she could expect aid.

But her impulse was stayed and her thoughts sent wandering again
by the penetrating look he gave her before she let her veil fall
again.

"How long have you been in Detroit?" he asked.

"Ever since--"

"And how old is Reuther?"