Twilight Sleep
tenderness for her brother stiffened into ice about her heart.
"I don't know. what you mean. Jim's grown up—he's got to face things."
"Yes; I know. I've been told the same thing about myself. But there are things one doesn't ever have a chance to face in this slippery sliding modern world, because they don't come out into the open. They just lurk and peep and mouth. My case exactly. What on earth is there about Aggie that a fellow can face?"
Nona stopped short with a jerk. "We don't happen to be talking about you and Aggie," she said.
"Oh, well; I was merely using myself as an example. But there are plenty of others to choose from."
Her voice broke into anger. "I don't imagine you're comparing your married life to Jim's?"
"Lord, no. God forbid!" He burst into a dry laugh. "When I think of Aggie's life and Lita's—!"
"Never mind about Lita's life. What do you know about it, anyhow? Oh, Stan, why are we quarrelling again?" She felt the tears in her throat. "What you wanted was only to tell me about poor Arthur. And I'd guessed that myself—I know something ought to be done. But what? How on earth can I tell? I'm always being asked by every- body what ought to be done . . . and sometimes I feel too young to be always the one to judge, to decide. . ."
