He laughed.
"That was only talk," he whispered. "You should know my talk by this time."
"I'll never know you."
"Please, Anna, don't. You hurt me when you say that."
"And when you were silent," she went on softly, "I felt—I felt something had happened. Erik, darling Erik. Oh, you're my whole life!"
"I adore you, sweetest," he murmured.
"I don't live except in you, Erik. And, oh, I'm a fool. Such a fool!"
"You're wonderful," he interrupted. He was making responses in an old ritual.
"No, I'm not. I'll make you tired of me. Tell me, please. Tell me you love me. I feel you've never told me it."
"I love you more than everything else in life. More than everything."