"I'd ... marry you," she confessed haltingly, "but I can't."
"Is it Boy?" demanded Young. "Why, child, don't you know I love him almost as if he were my own?"
"I can't," wailed Tess, again. "How I wish I could!"
"You saw some one today, didn't you, Tessibel?"
She nodded affirmatively, but volunteered nothing further.
"I must know," cried the man. "Don't you see, child, you've just told me—Tess, look at me."
The drooping lids raised slowly.
"Tess, when you said you desired to marry me, did you mean—oh, you meant you love me, child dear, didn't you?"
"Yes," she breathed.
"Then, can't you see your love for me and mine for you makes it necessary I should know everything? Some one today—tell me, dear."