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　　At last she went up to bed. Unpinning her hair, she heard him knocking softly at her door, and let him in. They stood, his arms around her, her heart beating fast, then sat a little uncomfortably on the bed. They talked, half in whispers. Grave as ever, he was difficult for her to read, but as always, she found there were no limits to what she could say. She explained her feelings: her happiness to have found the man she could love -- and her misery to have found him already married. He pressed her to him, full of affection, and they lay down. Folded in  his arms, Gertrude told him that she was a virgin. His warmth and attentive sympathy were boundless, but when he kissed her and moved closer, put his hands on her, she stiffened, panicked, whispered " No ". He stopped at once, assuring her that it didn't  matter, and when tears came into her eyes he comforted her for a few minutes and told her nothing had changed. Then he slipped away and out of the door.