But she interrupted him quickly. "In all this time you have never asked me if I love you. Why haven't you?"
"I have been afraid."
"Ask me!"
"Do you love me?" his heart missing a beat.
She leaned toward him swiftly. "Here is my answer," pursing her lips.
"Fortune!"
"Be careful! I've a terrible temper."
But she was not quite prepared for such roughness. She could not stir, so strongly did he hold her to his heart. Not only her lips, but her eyes, her cheeks, her throat, and again her lips. He hurt her, but her heart sang. No man could imitate love like that; and doubt spread its dark pinions and went winging out to sea.
"That is the way I want to be loved. Always love me like that. Never wait for me to ask. Come to me at all times, no matter how I am engaged, and take me in your arms, roughly like this. Then I shall know. I have been so lonely; my heart has been so filled with love and none to receive it! I love you. I haven't asked why; I don't care. When it began I do not know either. But it is in my heart, strong and for ever."
"Heart o' mine, I'm going to be the finest lover there ever was!"