"And you'll have to be amiable to some one you've never seen in your life before, I suppose?" he persisted.
"Not necessarily. It sometimes happens, in my position," she went on, raising her head, "that certain sacrifices are necessary."
"In your position," he repeated quickly. "What does that mean? You aren't a queen, are you, or anything of that sort?"
She laughed.
"No," she confessed, "I am not a queen, and yet—"
"And yet?"
"You must go back," she insisted, rising abruptly to her feet. "The quarter of an hour is up. I do not feel happy, sitting here talking with you. Really, if my father were to return he would be more angry with me than he has ever been in his life. This sort of thing is not done amongst my people."
"Little lady," he said, gently forcing her back into her place, "believe me, it's done all the world over, and there isn't any girl can come to any harm by being told that a man is fond of her when it's the truth, when he'd give his life for her willingly. It's just like that I feel about you. I've never felt it before. I could never feel it for any one else. And I am not going to give you up."
She was looking at him half fearfully. There was a little colour in her cheeks, her eyes were suddenly moist.
"I think," she murmured, "that you talk very nicely. I think I might even say that I like to hear you talk. But it is so useless. Won't you go now? Won't you please go now?"