"Oh, Geoff, Geoff! How sweet beyond words it is to see you again!"
In a second his arms were around her, and she was strained to his breast with a force that was almost painful. In silence he looked, eagerly and intently, deep into the limpid brown eyes so near his own. Such ineffable tenderness and devotion frankly answered his ardent, searching gaze, that the force of his worship for this beautiful woman grew not only unspeakable, but nigh too overwhelmingly great to be borne. His brows contracted, and all unconsciously he uttered a deep-breathed "Oh!" that bordered on a groan of pain; then suddenly sinking on his knees before her with the abandon of his artistic temperament, he seized both her hands, covering them with kisses. At last, pressing her soft palms hard against his cheeks, he rested motionless, and scarcely could she hear his murmured broken words—
"How I adore you! I can scarcely endure it. You are more perfect even than I remembered. Evarne! Evarne!"
She was already bending slightly forward, for unconsciously he was dragging her hands downwards. She leant lower, and lightly brushed his fair hair with her lips. A divan was close by. She sank down, and, still kneeling, Geoffrey rested his folded arms upon her knees and looked up into her face.
The turmoil of strong emotion was still so far beyond all possible expression, that to both speech could have been merely a mockery. For a protracted period nothing was said in spoken words. When Evarne finally broke the long silence it was with tones so soft, so appealing, that they were in themselves a gentle caress, although the actual words were commonplace enough.
"You won't leave me again? You won't go away any more?"
"Not without you, my dearest, my dearest! Never shall I go without you—no, not even to the end of the street—if I can persuade you to come with me."
"And I would follow you willingly, whatever might await us at the end of the street."
"You really love me?"
"You want to hear my voice tell you what you know so well already?"