"And if so, I shall have died for you."
"Let me help you up on the sofa, now, and I'll fetch you a glass of water."
With her support he limped across to the sofa.
"Better now?" she asked, handing him the glass of water.
"Oh, I'm so fond of you," said he, and tried to take her hand.
"Oh, do stop that nonsense!" said she, with a laugh.
"Stop? How can I stop when I love you as deeply as ... as ..." he paused, unable to find a sufficiently powerful expression, then suddenly the inspiration came, and, raising himself on his elbow, he went on—"as deeply as is possible in this line of business!"
"Oh no, really; you can talk about this another time, you know. Come along now, Eriksen, pull yourself together and be a man."
"Then it's not a final refusal—not a harsh and cruel 'no' such as your father flung at me just now—with that heavy book? Say it's not that!"
But she was gone.