“Hush! Don't be angry, dear. Be honest now. Don't you understand just what I mean?” They looked squarely into each other's eyes.
“I want you to marry me at once,” said he doggedly. “You know I love you, Lyddy. Is there anything more to say than that?”
“Don't you want to tell me, Freddy?”
His eyes wavered. “I can't go on living as I have been for the past few months. I've just got to end it, Lyddy. You don't understand—you can't, and there isn't any use in trying to explain the——”
“I think I do understand, dear,” she said quietly, laying her hand on his. “I understand so completely that there isn't any use in your trying to explain. But don't you think you are a bit cowardly?”
“Cowardly?” he gasped, and then the blood rushed to his face.
“Is it quite fair to me—or to yourself?” He was silent. She waited for a moment and then went on resolutely. “I know just what it is that you are afraid of, Freddy. I shall marry you, of course. I love you more than anything else in all the world. But are you quite fair in asking me to marry you while you are still afraid, dear?”
“Before God, Lyddy, I love no one else but you!” he cried earnestly. “I know what it is you are thinking, and I—I don't blame you. But I want you now—you don't know how much I need you now! I want to begin a new life with you. I want to feel that you are with me—just you—strong and brave and enduring. I am adrift. I need you.”
“I know you love me, Frederic. I am absolutely certain of it,” she said slowly, weighing her words carefully. “But I cannot marry you to-morrow—nor for a long time after to-morrow. In a year—yes. But not now, dear; not just now. You—you understand, don't you? Say that you understand.”
His chin sank upon his breast. “Of course I understand,” he said in a very low voice.