It seemed to her a very long time later that she found herself lying exhausted against the sofa-cushions, feeling his arm still about her and poignantly conscious of his touch. His other hand was pressed upon her forehead, and her tears had ceased. She could not remember that he had spoken a single word since he had taken her into his arms, neither had he kissed her, but all her fear of him was gone.
Through the open port-hole there came to her the swish of water, and she heard the throb and roar of the engines like the sound of a distant train in a tunnel. Moved by a deep impulse that came straight from her soul, she took the hand that lay upon her brow and drew it downwards first to her lips, holding it there with closed eyes while she kissed it, then softly to her heart while she turned her eyes to his.
"Oh, Dick," she said, "are you sure—are you quite sure—that—that—I am worth keeping?"
"I am quite sure I am going to keep you," he answered very steadily.
Her two hands closed fast upon his. "Not—not as a prisoner?" she whispered, wanly smiling.
"Yes, a prisoner," he said, not without a certain grimness, "that is, until you have learnt your lesson."
"What lesson?" she asked him wonderingly.
"That you can't do without me," he said, a note of challenge in his voice.
Something in his look hurt her. She freed one hand and laid it pleadingly, caressingly, against his neck. "Oh, Dicky," she said, "try to understand!"
His face changed a little, and she thought his mouth quivered ever so slightly as he said. "It's now or never, Juliet. If I don't come to a perfect understanding with you to-night, we shall be strangers for the rest of our lives."