He seemed to have become utterly changed; the unlit preoccupation hadbeen absent from his face--the gauntness, the grayness, seemed tohave become subdued; the deep lines of pain, imperceptible at times,smoothed out and shadowed in an almost gay resurgence of youth.

If, during the first fortnight or two of her companionship, his gaietyhad been not entirely spontaneous, his chuckle shadowed with somethingduller, his laughter a trifle forced, she had not perceived it inher surprised and shyly troubled preoccupation with this amazing anddelightful transfiguration.

At first she scarcely knew what to look for, what to expect fromhim, from herself, when she came into the studio after many months ofabsence; and she always halted in the doorway, trembling a little,as always, when in contact with him.