"It cannot go on, of course—you agree with me about that, do you not?"
"What cannot go on?" she asked, to gain time to recover her composure.
"This situation," he answered. "I am sure now that I love you—and I want to teach you a number of things, first in importance being that you shall love me."
"Oh, you must not say this," Stella protested feebly.
"Yes, I must, and you will listen to me, little star."
He drew nearer to her, and the amazing power of propinquity began to assert itself. She felt as if the force to resist him were leaving her, she was trembling all over with delicious thrills.
"I made up my mind almost immediately I saw you, sweet child," he went on, "that you were what I have been waiting for all my life. You are good and true—and balanced—or you will be that when I have made your love education. Stella, look at me with those soft eyes, and tell me that I mean something to you already, and that the worthy Mr. Medlicott does not exist any more."
"I—I—but I have only known you for two days," Stella answered confusedly: she was so full of emotion that she dared not trust herself further.
"Does time count, then, so much with conventional people?" he demanded. "For me it has no significance in relation to feeling. If you would only look at me instead of down at those small hands, then you would not be able to tell me these foolish things!"
This was so true that Stella could not deny it, her breath came rather fast; it was the supreme moment her life had yet known.