“If Frank were to ask you that question, you would answer, ‘You and Bart.’”
“Why, yes, I suppose I would.”
He showed a shadow of disappointment.
“I thought you did not intentionally place me first,” he said; “but I hoped you did.”
She looked up quickly, and that glance made his heart beat still more swiftly.
“Bart,” she said, “I would not intentionally place either one of you before the other.”
His heart seemed to drop back into his bosom with a thud.
“I had hoped you did,” he repeated.
He knew he must brace up at once. He looked on her, and the fire returned to his heart.
“Elsie,” he said swiftly, yet gently, taking her hand, “I love you! You know that, for I have told you so before now. My love has not changed in the least, unless it has grown stronger. I know it has taken a firmer hold on me, for now I feel that I cannot live without you!”