She came and leant her forehead against his shoulder. “Do say it. Have I?”
“You darling kiddy, you’ve been the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I have my own little religion,” she whispered. “I shall say a prayer for you to-night.”
“Will you pray that one day you may be my wife?”
She was silent. They moved together as in a trance towards the door. He was remembering what she had said it would mean if she kissed him without his asking. He was hoping. She accompanied him to the head of the stairs. Suddenly his will-power gave way. “I’m not going. You don’t think I’m going after to-night? You’ve shown me so much that—— Desire, I can’t live without you.”
She took his face between her hands. “You must go. If you don’t, it’ll be all the same. You’ve told me things, too. I’m hindering your work. After what you’ve told me, I would refuse to see you if you stayed. Perhaps it’s only for a little while. I may marry you some day. Who knows? And I wouldn’t want your mother to hate me.”
They clung together in silence.
“We’ll write often?”
“Yes, often.”
“And to-morrow?”