"Why do you say it so sadly, my darling? Love will bring nothing but happiness for you and for me," he said.
She laid her white arms on his neck, and looked earnestly in his face.
"There can be no comparison," she said. "Love to you is only a small part of your life, to me it is everything—everything. Do you understand? If you forget me or anything of that kind, I could not bear it. I could not school myself into patience as model women do. I should come and throw myself into the mill-stream."
"But, my darling, I shall never forget you—never; you are life of my life. I might live without the air and the sunlight; I might live without sleep or food, but never without you. I must forget my own soul before I forget you."
Still the white hands clasped his shoulders and the dark eyes were fixed on his face.
"You and your love are more than that to me," she said. "I throw all my life on this one die; I have nothing else—no other hope. Ah, think well, Lance, before you pledge your faith to me; it means so much. I should exact it whole, unbroken and forever."
"And I would give it so," he replied.
"Think well of it," she said again, with those dark, earnest eyes fixed on his face. "Let there be no mistake, Lance. I am not one of the meek Griselda type; I should not suffer in silence and resignation, let my heart break, and then in silence sink into an early grave. Ah, no, I am no patient Griselda. I should look for revenge and many other things. Think well before you pledge yourself to me. I should never forgive—never forget. There is time now—think before you seal your fate and mine."
"I need not think, Leone," he answered, quietly. "I have thought, and the result is that I pledge you my faith forever and ever."
The earnest, eager gaze died from her eyes, and the beautiful face was hidden on his breast.