Marry him! This, too, was a new thought. Jinnie’s heart fluttered like a bird in her breast. To be with him always? To have him for her own? Of course, he was hers, and she was his! Then into her mind came the thought of Lafe, Peggy, and Bobbie, and the arms around him relaxed.
“I love you better’n anybody in the world,” she told him, pathetically, “but I can’t ever leave the cobbler.... They need me there.”
“They can’t keep you,” he cried passionately. “I want you myself.”
His vehemence subdued her utterly. She glanced into his face. In his flashing eyes, Jinnie read a power inimitable and unsurpassed.
“I couldn’t ever leave ’em,” she repeated, quivering, “but couldn’t they live––”
“We’d take the little blind boy,” promised Theodore. 220
Jinnie remained pensive. To bring the shine in her eyes once more, he said:
“Wouldn’t you like Bobbie to live with us?”
“Yes, of course; but I couldn’t leave Lafe and Peg in Paradise Road.”
Theodore surrounded the entreating, uplifted face with two strong hands.