“No—no, that is not what is in my heart,” said he gently. The thought that was in his heart at that moment was that though he had gone to her to plead, it was she who was doing all the pleading with him.
“Am I unwomanly? Ah, my fault has been that I am too womanly.”
“I do not know what it is that you suggest,” he said slowly.
“Ah, Dick, do not overwhelm me with scorn. Say a word to me—speak words to me, not icicles, that cut me as icicles cut one.”
“I am thinking,” he said. “You give me so much to think about. My first thought is that you are a free woman. You can marry whomsoever you will?”
“I am free,” she said. “I can marry—one—one.”
“You would not be afraid to marry that one?” said he.
“Afraid! Ah, my only fear would be that I could not do enough to make him happy.”
“Would you be afraid to marry me?” he said in a low voice.
“Ah, Dick, only for the reason that I have said!” she cried.