Then his great chest heaved and the gun dropped from his hand.
“Eh, bless you for that word, my lass!” he cried brokenly. “I reckoned you meant to cheat me.”
“Then you do guess?” stammered Rebecca. “Oh, Robert—’tis Jim. He be come back—he only went away to get work after all.”
Robert’s heart leaped up with an odd mixture of anguish and joy. It was her sweetheart—“the only man in the world”. Who could blame the lass?
“Ah,” he said unsteadily, “coom back, is he? It’s right then. You be in the right to stick to him if he’ll stick to you.”
“Oh, e-es,” returned the girl quickly, “he’ve a-come back for that—he do want us to get married at once.”
A spasm crossed Robert’s face. “You’re not afeard now, I see,” he said.
“Oh, I can’t help it, I can’t help it,” she cried. “I love him best—I did al’ays love him best, but I—I—oh, Robert, I be so sorry!”
He drew down her hands and gently shook them; then he let them drop.
“It’s right,” he said, “ye’ve no need to fret yoursel’, my lass—you’re a good lass—I give ye j’y.”