Lines of pain came into his features. "Don't ask me about that, Sue. So many of the boys I had trained died that night."
"Oh!"
There was a longer silence. At last his arm came about her. Moments passed and then she understood that no bridge would ever be needed. Words were no longer necessary. She no longer tried to guard her own thoughts.
And when he asked the question it brought no new excitement. She had known that he would ask it, and gave the answer with her lips against his.
"And the date?" he said.
She counted on her fingers. "My birthday comes on the fifteenth. I'll be eighteen. Is it too long? Girls eighteen get special training to prepare them for marriage."
"I can't imagine what sort of training," he said. "Besides, I don't think you need it. Nobody taught you to kiss like that. I've a hunch you have some special aptitude for being a wife. But if your heart is set on waiting—"
"It won't be long. Let's set the date for the twenty-fifth of June."
"It's pretty long for an old spaceman, but maybe I can hold out if I can see you often enough."
"Every evening—"