She turned her face a shade farther away.
“I am leaving to-morrow night for another year’s absence.” He spoke as simply as if he were discussing the most ordinary of subjects. “So I can see but one thing to do, and that is——”
He got up and came around behind her, standing in the shadow of the vines, where the light did not touch him—“and that is, to take you with me.”
He had not said it doubtfully, although his inflection was very gentle. She moved quickly, startled.
“Doctor Barnes——”
“Yes, I’m ready for them. You can’t raise an objection that I’m not ready for, not one that I can’t meet—except one. And that you can’t raise, Rachel.”
She was silent, the words upon her lips held in check by this last bold declaration.
“You see you can’t, being truthful,” he said, smiling a little. “If I seem too confident, forgive me; but I’ve carried with me all these years that one look, when you forgot to veil your eyes away from me as you always had—and always have since then. When I get that look from you again——” He paused, drawing a long breath. “I don’t dare dream of it. Rachel, will you go?”
She tried to glance at him, and managed it, but no higher than his shoulders.
“I am engaged to take the training for nurses at the Larchmont Memorial——” she began.