He caught hold of her hand. "I want you to forget what I said the night before last," he continued, "and to ascribe it all to the madness of my feelings. I want you to say, too, that I may consider,—that from now onwards I mean,—that we are properly engaged."
Still she made no reply.
"Come, Leo, you're not hesitating, are you? Won't you marry me?"
She stopped, released her hand from his, and averted her gaze.
"Say you'll marry me, Leo! So that I can tell them in a minute or two that you have consented. Do!"
"Whatever made you think of this?" she exclaimed fretfully.
"I have been thinking of it for some time. I mean it truly," he stammered.
"But I thought you loved my sister!"
Denis retreated a step or two and regarded the girl for a moment in mystified silence.
He was staggered. This piece of brazen audacity on her part petrified him, and his face betrayed his speechless astonishment.