"What do you mean?" he asked hoarsely.
"I mean that—that you—that I——"
The words ended in inarticulate sobs.
"Do you mean that you ask me to stay in England?"
Dick put this question in a voice that was absolutely stern, though it quivered with suppressed agitation. There was no answer: sobs were no answer. He crossed the room unsteadily, fell on his knees at her side, and took both her hands in his. Then he repeated the same question—in the same words, in the same tones.
The answer came in a trembling whisper, with a fresh torrent of tears:
"What if I did?"
"The Rome might sail without me."
A tearful incredulous smile from Alice.
"Do you tell me to stay? I stay or go at your bidding. Darling! you know what that means to us two?"