"But I am not in your place, and I can't put myself there. I do not wish to. If it be true, as you say, that you have grown to—care so much for me and so quickly—"
"If it be true?" came the sharp interruption as the man bent toward her fairly devouring her with his bold, ardent gaze.
"Well, since it is true," she admitted under the compulsion of his protest, "that fact is the only possible excuse for your action."
"You find some justification for me, then!"
"No, only a possibility, but whether it be true or not, I do not feel that way—yet."
There was a saving grace in that last word, which gave him a little heart. He would have spoken, but she suffered no interruption, saying:
"I have been wooed before, but—"
"True, unless the human race has become suddenly blind," he said softly under his breath.
"But never in such ungentle ways."
"I suppose you have never run up against a real red-blooded man like me before."