It'd been useless. She'd lain unmoving beneath him, her beautiful eyes open wide, staring coldly right through him to the ceiling above, as he had continued his efforts to raise some reply that would show that she felt something other than pain and disgust.

Christ! The contempt in her eyes… and it'd never left them, even hours later… still lying there, sobbing quietly…

He recalled pacing the room, offering her a cigarette, a drink, anything that would break the horrible silence and spark the slightest sign of forgiveness from her. Finally, he had said, "Janet… darling, please… can you forgive me?"

She hadn't looked at him, nor even answered immediately, and when she had her voice was frigid… almost toneless.

"If you're through with me for the night, Master, would you mind covering me?"

Her words had been like the keen edge of a blade thrust into him. He'd swallowed tightly and fulfilled her wish, tucking the sheet beneath her chin.

"Darling… I know it must've been horrible for you… I… I just lost control, that's all. I-I've waited so damned long…"

She hadn't answered, nor looked, nor showed the slightest reaction to his words.

"You… you were so breathtaking… standing there in that doorway…" he babbled on. "If only we hadn't waited so long. Remember? How many times have I said that we shouldn't wait any longer…?"

She lay unmoved.

"Damn it, Janet, I'm sorry!" he had blurted out at her in his discomfiture. "What more can I say? I'm a man, not some piece of machinery. You have to try to understand about these things. A woman with your beauty can drive a poor male out of his mind. It… it didn't just happen. Good Lord, it's been building inside me now for a year…"