"Certainly not," promptly. "Old people are old, and we are young—and if we don't want to marry, they shan't make us. Just wait a moment,"—and with a sudden change of tone Leo sprang aside, as though the subject were disposed of and another in its place.
A barberry tree laden with berries had come to view, and while he stood still upon the path, she began snapping off the bending branches. On her return, however, he was regarding her shyly with something of a new interest.
"I never said I did not want to marry you, Leo."
Leo's lips twitched. "There's no need to say things, Val. You don't."
"You bustle a fellow so, he doesn't know what he's about. I think you might give a fellow a chance."
"That's just what I'm doing. Giving you a chance to know your own mind—not your grandmother's."
"I like you awfully, you know."
"So do I like you. That's where we stand. We are not going to bother about marrying. Why, Val—take care, don't push me into that puddle. What ever should you and I do if we were solemnly tied up to each other, and had no one to meet, and talk with, and quarrel with? As it is, you are my only relief from the deadly life I lead at home. And if it comes out that we have been talking like this, there will be an end of it all—yes, there will,—so you are warned, and it would be very cruel of you——"
"Cruel?"
"It would be cruel to take from me my only comfort."