She was silent for a moment. Then she looked slowly up at him; and in her eyes he read her answer.
"Sweetheart! Little sweetheart!" he whispered, and held out his arms to her.
With a little cry she crept into them; and he pressed her to his heart. At that moment enemies, danger, death, were forgotten. For Noreen her whole world lay within the circle of his arms.
"Do you really, really love me?" she asked wonderingly.
He held her very close to his heart and looked fondly, tenderly down into the lovely upturned face.
"Love you, my dearest? I love you with all my heart, my soul, my being," he whispered. "How could I help loving you?"
And bending down he kissed her fondly.
"It's all so wonderful," she murmured. "I didn't think that you cared for me, that you could ever care. You seemed so far away, too occupied with important things to spare a thought for me. So serious a person, and sometimes so stern, that I was afraid of you."
He laughed amusedly.
"The wonder is that you ever came to care for me. You do care, don't you, beloved?"