“Esther! dearest!” Drawing her toward him, he kissed her on her lips as he held her close in the clasp of his arms with the intensity of his commanding love. Her hat had fallen off; he caught the dank fragrance of her hair.
Something fluttered in her breast—something new and strange and strong. She did not understand that she had left girlhood behind and become a woman. All the woman in her was quickened by his kiss.
“Oh, how I love to feel your heart beating against mine.”
Her words, her kiss, touched his soul to its depths. He was startled at the depths he had stirred.
“Heart! dear heart of mine!” She was in a fit of adoring fury. Her lips met his, again and again. She loved him so humanly and yet there was only the tender throb and thrill of the sensitive nature in all its refinement. Sweet emotions shot through her breast.
“Love me, no matter what comes, Esther, love me.”
He too felt some hurting power bound through his blood, and wrestle with his reserve—his equilibrium.
His low voice, his soft eyes, held her; not a tone, not a look but it caressed her.
The soft shadows, the limpid waters, the open air—with it altogether he felt a strange softening.
“You never said sweet words straight from your heart to me before.”