"In ten years' time then, Raoul. That's a great concession."
"In a fortnight. That would seem eternity enough," he replied.
"Well, five years then," Pansy answered, suddenly wide awake. "I could see and do a lot in five years, if I worked hard at it. Especially with the thought of you looming ominously in the background."
"In three weeks, little girl. I've been waiting for you all my life."
Pansy stroked his face with a mocking, caressing hand.
"Poor boy, you don't look like a waiter."
He took the small, teasing hand into his own.
"Never mind what I look like just now," he said. "Say in three weeks' time, my darling."
"Two years. Give me two years to get used to the cramped idea of matrimony."
"A month. Not a day longer, Heart's Ease, unless you want to drive me quite mad," he said, a note of desperate entreaty in his voice.