No one had ever called Miss Stornaway little before, and never had she felt so little, or so weak. Captain Staple was holding her with his left arm only, his right hand being employed in pushing up her chin, but it was far too strong a hold to admit of any possibility of escape. She attempted none, but lifted her face in the most natural way, like a child asking to be kissed. Captain Staple, tightening his hold on this vital, yielding armful in a manner as gratifying as it was uncomfortable, responded to the mute invitation promptly and thoroughly, and forgot the world until Beau, possibly affronted by such behaviour, or perhaps hopeful of further largesse, nudged him with sufficient force to recall him to a sense of his surroundings.
“Damn the brute!” said Captain Staple, removing himself and his love to a bench over against the wall. “My darling, my darling!”
The masterful Miss Stornaway, discovering suddenly the advantages of a large shoulder, snuggled her cheek into it, and heaved a deep sigh. She also clutched a fold of that coarse shirt, but Captain Staple detached her hand, and carried it to his lips. She was moved to expostulate. “This is only the fifth time we have met!”
“I knew the instant I set eyes on you,” he said simply.
“Oh, was it so with you, too?” She pulled his hand to her exposed cheek, and nursed it there. “You stood there, staring at me—such a great stupid!—and I could think of nothing else, all through the Service in Church! And when I stood beside you, I looked up, not down, and felt myself not overgrown in the least, but quite small!”
“‘Just as high as my heart,’” quoted Captain Stable.
Her fingers tightened on his. “John, John!”
From the other end of the barn Beau snorted, and tossed up his head. This drew a gurgle from Miss Stornaway. “I don’t think Beau was ever more shocked in his life!”
“On the contrary! If only I had had the forethought to teach him how to do it, he would bend the knee to you, my treasure!”
She sighed again. “He is too wise. I think I must have become infected with your madness. It will not do! I am sure it will not do! I have no fortune—not a penny!”