"Later, perhaps, later," he said, and then with an effort, "can you make yourself comfortable here for a few days, do you think? I brought the maid with me. You will find her waiting in your rooms for you. I don't think she will give you any trouble."
"Oh, yes, I surely can," she replied. "It is lovely here. I have heard so much of this flyer. Why haven't you shown it to father and me before? The rooms are like those of a fairy palace. Tell me, Llysanorh', will it be long before we get back to Earth? Everyone"—she had been about to say Ralph, but checked herself—"everyone will be so worried about me."
"We are never going back to Earth," he said.
"Never going—why, what has happened then? Is there something wrong that you won't tell me?—or are you joking? But of course you're joking, Llysanorh', and for a minute I thought you were serious."
"I was never more serious," he said, rising to his feet and facing her. "We are never going back, you and I."
Alice looked at him wide-eyed, amazed and bewildered.
"But I don't understand," she faltered. "Why, Llysanorh'?"
It was then that the pent-up emotion of months burst the bonds of self-restraint that he had forced upon himself.
"Why!" he cried passionately, "you ask me why! Can't you see why? How can you look into my eyes and not know why? Because I am a man—because I am a fool—good God, because I love you!" He flung himself upon his knees, clasping her about the waist with his arms.
"I worship you, I adore you—I always shall. You must love me, you cannot help but love me, I love you so much, Alice, Alice, my dearest, my beloved."