And then he wandered off to join Mary and impart the result of his inquiries to her. Hallam looked at Esmé, and turned about abruptly, and proceeded to walk with her away from the hotel.
“I think,” she said hesitatingly, “that I ought to go in.”
“Not yet,” he said. “I want to talk to you. You may think that that was an odd sort of proposal; but the little chap forced my hand. It is amazing how sharp children are. Did you mind?”
“No,” she replied, confused but extraordinarily happy. “I was a little unprepared though.”
They had both taken things so much for granted that she had not noticed that he had never definitely asked her to marry him. That part of it did not seem to matter.
“You knew,” he said, “how things were? I think we both assumed it from the moment you arrived. But John has put matters on a businesslike footing. I said I meant to marry you. I do—if you’ll take me. You know what I am. I think you know more about me than any one. Any good that is in me is of your making—”
“No,” she interrupted quickly. But he took no heed of that, and went on as if she had not spoken.
“When I met you I was drifting. No other influence, I believe, could have pulled me up. It was not merely that you made me realise the folly of wasting my life; you opened my mind to more than that. I have come to see that man has a duty towards his fellow-men; that he has got to serve the community: if he serve it ill, he plays a mean part; if his service be good he doesn’t merit praise, he is simply doing his job. You have pulled me out of the mire; now that I have cleaned some of the mud off I want you to take me by the hand and continue the journey with me. There isn’t any need for me to say in words that I love you. I think you guessed that long ago.”
He looked down and saw her face all flushed and confused, with eyes, too shy to meet his own, lowered till the lashes touched her cheeks. He longed to take her in his arms and kiss her; but the open road was ill suited to his purpose, and he decided to wait.
“Dear, will you marry me?” he asked.