“But, when you are better, when you are going out again,” resumed Georges hesitating—he knew he was making a bold plunge—“may I now and then offer you my assistance? I am mostly at my office, ’tis true, but still——”
“You skate, then?” cried Lili. She would never have thought it of him.
“I am passionately fond of it!” he declared. “Do you accept?”
She nearly blushed, and answered, smiling, with downcast eyes—
“Oh, with pleasure, yes. But you will have such a trouble with me. I am so frightened; I always fancy I hear the ice crack, you see—you don’t know what you are offering me.”
“Oh yes,” he answered; “I don’t think I shall ever regret having asked you.”
How was it, thought Lili, that he could repeat a sentence like that, with such an expression of sincerity, and she could find no reply? She only laughed a little. There was a pause in the conversation, but Georges quickly revived it, and continued his pleasant chat until it grew dark, when he rose, apologizing for his lengthy visit.
“Oh, not at all; on the contrary,” said Mr. Verstraeten, “I am very pleased to see you again. Remember me to the old gentleman and to your sister.”
“Emilie declared she could not manage without you,” added Madame Verstraeten. “She will be glad you are home again.”
Lili thought she could understand that Emilie must have missed Georges, and she offered him her hand, and once more cordially thanked him for his offer.