"My dearest," he said, kissing her passionately, and then for a few moments neither of them spoke. "We will begin a new life," he said, at length. "We will put the sad past away from us, and think of it only as a dream."
"But this secret will still fret you," she murmured.
"It will wear away with time and with change of scene," he answered sadly.
"Change of scene!" she repeated in a startled tone. "Are you going away?"
"Yes; I have sold my station, and intend leaving Australia for ever during the next three months."
"And where are you going?" asked the girl, rather bewildered.
"Anywhere," he said a little bitterly. "I am going to follow the example of Cain, and be a wanderer on the face of the earth!"
"Alone!"
"That is what I have come to see you about," said Brian, looking steadily at her. "I have come to ask you if you will marry me at once, and we will leave Australia together."
She hesitated.