CHAPTER NINEFor a moment, after Bettina had spoken, there was complete silence.
Then Michael asked, in a voice which did not sound like his own,
“Do you really mean that?”
“Of course I mean it,” Bettina replied sincerely. “How could I not do anything you ask, when you are being so good to us all?”
“All?”
“You have given us all such hope. Believe me, any one of us would do anything for you.”
“But I am not asking any of the others,” he said quietly. “Only you.”
“And I will help you, of course I will,” she responded in a voice whose soft fervour seemed to touch his heart.
Michael stared at her. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her why she was doing this? Was it only for the sake of the people of the neighbourhood?
Did she care so much for them and nothing for him?
The question
