He smiled in reminiscence and his smile was tender.
"Roses and kids," he repeated after a while. "They ought to go together."
He looked at Jane and saw that her eyes were filmed.
She rode closer to him, until her knee touched his chap and said:
"I think that is beautiful: Roses and kids. I shall always remember it; always...."
She knew, now, the man she loved, the man whose love she would win, the man behind that exasperating front of caution. His clear eyes and keen mind were interested only in realities and yet he could display a tenderness more delicate than she had ever before encountered in men. He was strong, and as gentle as he was strong; he was generous while a skeptic; he had poise and personality. And he could liken love to a poker chip; without using the word make her know that he held love sacred!
She raised her hand to that locket again and held it tightly in her small palm.