“She cannot dream how truly I love my darling, or she would know that the loss of her would wreck my life,” he thought. “Since I first met Violet the whole world has grown brighter and more joyful. I have seemed to live more fully, to rest more sweetly. I can never put her out of my heart, nor relinquish the hope of one day calling her mine,” and he recalled some sweet, tender lines, somewhere read, that seemed to image his own feelings:
“Forget thee, dear?
God knows how in the silence of the night,
Forgetful how tired I am,
I think of thee till, like a soothing balm,
Sleep, drooping on my lids, puts thought to flight.
“Forget thee, dear?
God knows I have no longer any choice!
Love’s seal is set upon me, nor can I,
With placid beating heart, again deny