“You declared that Litka was with us; that is true. I have always returned from the cemetery as if cut down; but it is well that we were there.”
“It is; for we went as if for a blessing,” said Marynia.
“I have that same impression; and, besides, it seems to me as if we were united already, or, at least, were nearer than before.”
“True; and this will be both a sad and a pleasant remembrance.”
He took her hand again, and said,—
“If you believe that we shall be happy, why defer happiness? My kind, my best, I, too, trust that it will be well with us; let us not defer the day. We have to begin a new life; let us begin it promptly.”
“Make the decision. I am yours with all my soul.”
Then he drew her toward him, as he had the day before, and began to seek her lips with his lips; and she, whether under the influence of the thought that his rights were greater on that day, or under the influence of awakening thoughts, did not turn her head away any more, but, half closing her eyes, she herself gave him her lips, as if they had been thirsty a long time.