"I love you," she murmured.
"There! You are mine! Three little words bind you to me for ever. I will wait until the barrier is down. Then I will take you."
"The barrier grows stronger every day," she said, staring out beyond the tree-tops at the scudding clouds. "It never can be removed."
"Some day you will tell me—everything?"
She hesitated long. "Yes, before God, Brandon, I will tell you. Not now, but—some day. Then you will see why—why I cannot—" She could not complete the sentence.
"I don't believe there is anything you can tell me that will alter my feelings toward you," he said firmly. "The barrier may be insurmountable, but my love is everlasting."
"I can only thank you, dear, and—love you with all my wretched heart."
"You are not pledged to some one else?"
"No."
"That's all I want to know," he said, with a deep breath. "I thought it might be—Leslie."