“Two years back is a long way to remember.”
“I asked you to marry me, and you said no. Do you remember?”
She nodded.
“I’m going to ask you the same thing again.”
“Oh, Rion!” she murmured in an imploring undertone.
“I can only say the same things I said then. I’m not a smooth talker, like some of the men you’ve known. I want you for my wife, and I’ll do everything I can to make you happy. That’s about the whole thing.”
She rose with some broken words he did not catch and passed round behind the sofa, where she stood, her hand resting on the back, her face averted. He rose, too, but made no attempt to approach her.
“I don’t know much about women,” he continued. “I don’t know how to talk to them. You’re the only one of them I’ve ever felt this way to; and I’m pretty sure I’ll never feel so to any other. I love you. I’ve tried to stop it and I can’t. It’s stronger than I am.”
She made no reply, and after waiting a moment, he said, his voice slightly hoarse:
“Well, say something to me.”