The two
things merged in White's mind as he read. The written text took
upon itself a resonance of Benham's voice; it eked out the hints and
broken sentences of his remembered conversation.
But some things that Benham did not talk about at all, left by their
mere marked absence an impression on White's mind. And occasionally
after Benham had been talking for a long time there would be an
occasional aphasia, such as is often apparent in the speech of men
who restrain themselves from betraying a preoccupation. He would
say nothing about Amanda or about women in general, he was reluctant
to speak of Prothero, and another peculiarity was that he referred
perhaps half a dozen times or more to the idea that he was a "prig."
He seemed to be defending himself against some inner accusation,
some unconquerable doubt of the entire adventure of his life. These
half hints and hints by omission exercised the quick intuitions of
White's mind very keenly, and he drew far closer to an understanding
of Benham's reserves than Benham ever suspected. . .
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