"And now," he said, looking straight into the exquisite depths of her blue eyes, "now you have robbed me of one great happiness, which may never come to me again."
"Robbed you? ... of happiness?..."
"The happiness of dying for you."
But she looked down at him, smiling now through a mist of happy tears.
"Nay, sir," she whispered, "and when the Duke has no longer need of you, will you not live ... for me?"
He folded her in his arms, and held her closely, very closely to his strong, brave heart.
"Always at your feet," he murmured passionately, "and as your humble slave, my dream."
And as his lips sought hers once more, she whispered under her breath,—
"My husband!"
"My dream!—My wife!"