Sherwood Smith Quote

Wish I could have been there, I said.You could have been.This brought me back to reality with a jolt. Of course I could have been there--but I had left without warning, without saying good-bye even to my own brother, in my haste to retreat to home and sanity. And memory.I glanced at him just in time to see him wince slightly and shake his head. Was that regret? For his words--or for my actions that day?What you said last night, I demanded, about battles and me being used to them. What did you mean by that?It was merely an attempt to make you laugh.I did laugh, I admitted, then frowned. But did you intend some kind of courtly double meaning? Hinting that I’m used to battles in the sense that I lost every one I was in? Or merely that I get into quarrels?Neither. His tone was flat. Forgive my maladroitness.Well, I get into quarrels, I said, suddenly desperate to explain, to accuse. Except with--There came a tap outside the opposite doorway then.I shut my mouth; and for a moment, there we were, in silence, me wishing I could run but feeling I ought not to. There was--something--I had to do, or say, though I had no idea what.