"Take me with you!"
He could not believe his ears. Could this be Elinor, his tease, his torment? This wounded appeal, timid pleading—could it proceed from Elinor? He was thrown off his balance and too surprised to act. The words were repeated more beseechingly, wistfully:
"Take me with you, will you, Webster?"
For now that she had given herself away to him, he might as well see everything: that at last she was openly begging that she be admitted to a share in his plans and pleasures, that he no longer disdain to play with her.
He spoke with rough embarrassment over his shoulder:
"You can't go today. Nobody can go today. I'm going miles out into the country to the woods."
"But some day will you take me over into the woods yonder?"
After a while he turned toward her:
"Yes, I will."