“You want me to marry you—Charley?” she asked frankly.
“If you think there is no just impediment,” he answered, with a smile.
She drew her hand away, and for a moment there was a struggle in her mind—or heart. He knew of what she was thinking, and he did not consider it of serious consequence. Romance was a trivial thing, and women were prone to become absorbed in trivialities. When the woman had no brains, she might break her life upon a trifle. But Kathleen had an even mind, a serene temperament. Her nerves were daily cooled in a bath of nature’s perfect health. She had never had an hour’s illness in her life.
“There is no just or unjust impediment, Kathleen,” he added presently, and took her hand again.
She looked him in the eyes clearly. “You really think so?” she asked.
“I know so,” he answered. “We shall be two perfect panels in one picture of life.”
CHAPTER III. AFTER FIVE YEARS
“You have forgotten me?”
Charley Steele’s glance was serenely non-committal as he answered drily: