"It was pretty to watch—how you blushed and paled, and blushed again, and never knew which way to turn your eyes, and your heart throbbed, and you never dared confess even to yourself what made it so. I watched you then, and I found myself wishing you might not see me at all, only that I might watch you for ever from some secret place."
"Oh, but you don't know how it hurt, all the same—how anxious I was all the time—I could not have borne it long, I know."
"Yes—I understand…. And you were more beautiful still when you opened your heart to me. I read in your eyes as in an open book, and it made life bright and beautiful again for me."
"I—I have done nothing at all …" said the girl, blushing, and looking down. But she raised her head again, laid one hand on his knee, and looked questioningly at him.
He laughed in reply.
Slowly she drew herself up into his embrace, and put her arms about his neck.
"May I sit here like this?"
"Yes, you may—like this," said he, slipping an arm round her waist.
The girl's face drew nearer to his own, still questioning.
"No, no," he murmured, and laid one hand gently on her shoulder, as if seeking tenderly to hold her back.