"Would I take it," she retorted gently, "if I had any misgivings?"
"Oh! if you had.... Do you know that even now ..." he continued clumsily and haltingly, "now that I have realised just what it will mean to have you ... and just what it would mean to me, God help me—if I were to lose you ... well!... that even now I would rather go through that hell than that you should feel the least bit doubtful or unhappy about it all."
Again she smiled, gently, tenderly up into his eager, boyish face.
"The only unhappiness," she said gravely, "that could ever overtake me in the future would be parting from you, milor."
"Oh! God bless you for that, my dear! God bless you for that! But for pity's sake turn your dear eyes away from me or I vow I shall go crazy with joy. Men do go crazy with joy sometimes, you know, and I feel that in another moment I shall stand up and shout at the top of my voice to all the people in the room that within the next few hours the loveliest girl in all the world is going to be my wife."
"She certainly won't be that, if you do shout it at the top of your voice, milor, for father would hear you and there would be an end to our beautiful adventure."
"It will be a beautiful adventure, won't it?" he sighed with unconcealed ecstasy.
"So beautiful, my dear lord," she replied with gentle earnestness, "so perfect, in fact, that I am almost afraid something must happen presently to upset it all."
"Nothing can happen," he assured her. "M. Martin-Roget is not here, and His Royal Highness is even now monopolising M. le duc de Kernogan so that he cannot get away."
"Your friend must be very clever to manipulate so many strings on our behalf!"