“Yes.”
“He has gone, Jane. He does not trouble me and will not, I know. It was a long battle, a silent battle between us, but I’ve won. And I’m ready to take you, Jane.”
“Take me, then.”
Her lips were already his.
“You could have had me before, Phil,” she murmured. “I would have fought the Enemy with you he was my Enemy, too, but you would not have me.”
He shook his head.
“Not then. It was my own fight—not yours. And yet if it hadn’t been for you, perhaps I shouldn’t have fought at all.”
She drew away from him a little.
“No—I didn’t help you. I only made it harder. I’ll regret that always. It was your own victory—against odds.”
He smiled.