"Why should there be a struggle?" she asked him.
His grasp tightened and his eyes were steadily fixed upon her face. "You're very young and beautiful and, though I love you, I'm a broken man."
"Then it's through no fault of yours."
"The consequences are the same and, apart from this, I have nothing to offer. Can you wonder, my dear, that I was afraid? I come to you a beggar, with everything to gain."
"Ah!" she said, "all I have to give is yours; I think it was yours before you asked for it."
"Then you are not afraid?"
She looked at him with a happy smile. "What should I fear? Aren't you able to take care of me? It must be for my sake that you are so timid and I love you for it, but I think this must be the first time you ever hesitated long. Where has your usual recklessness gone?"
"It's coming back." He passed his arm about her waist, drawing her strongly to him. "We'll laugh at cold-blooded prudence and take our chances. It's a wide world, and we'll find a nook somewhere if we go out and look for it. All my care will be to smooth the trail for your dear, pretty feet."
They spent a time in happy talk, and Blake murmured when Millicent protested that they must go back, while she feared that her lover's exultant air would betray them as they entered the drawing-room.
"Where's the key?" Challoner asked.