“Do you?” said she with great surprise. “Well, you don’t love me more than I love you.”
“You make me very happy, my lass,” said he. “But why are you astonished at my saying I love you? Have I not told you so before?”
“I thought you were quizzing,” she answered.
“The sad expression of my face should have told you I was not quizzing,” he replied.
“How could I tell what your expression was when I never saw it?” she asked with some reproach.
“You did not see it because you always closed your eyes when I spoke to you,” he replied. “What made you do that?”
Belinda thought a moment
“It was merely a habit I had fallen into,” said she.
“You should never become a slave to a habit,” replied the curly-headed Sailor-Lad. He spoke reprovingly, as he thought of his many heart-aches.
She did not like to be reproved, so she changed the subject.