‘ “Are you angry with me?”
‘ “No, I am not angry with you; but there is something I want to tell you.”
‘ “What is it?”
‘ “A secret.”
‘ “A secret! It will be nice to have a secret. I haven’t any.”
‘ “I am not so sure that it is always nice.”
‘ “What is the secret? Will you tell me?”
‘ “Yes, I will tell you; but you must not be frightened. It is the greatest secret of my life, Annita, and the secret is this: that I love you, Annita, seriously and deeply. I am in love with you, and with no one else, for the rest of my life. Annita, I ask you now, will you be my wife? Look at me, Annita; what do you say? You care a little bit for me, Annita, don’t you?”
‘Annita stooped to me in trepidation.
‘ “Is it true, Theodore,” she whispered, “that you love me, and will have me for your wife? Say it once more.”