He stretched forth an eager hand, and grasped hers with a fervor which told her how deeply he was moved to find her, even before his words confirmed it.
"Oh! I have not made a mistake, have I?" he asked, bending his luminous face closer to hers, eager to read a welcome there. "I have found you—at last? If you knew—if I could tell you—But first tell me that you are glad to see me," he concluded, somewhat incoherently.
Mona's hand lay unresisting in his clasp, and a feeling of restful peace filled her heart, as she lifted her glad face to him.
"No, you have made no mistake—it is I, Mona Montague, and I am very"—with a little sob of joy, which she could not control—"very glad to see you again, Mr. Palmer."
"My darling!" he said, made bold by her look, her tone, but more by the little sob, which his own heart told him how to interpret. "Tell me yet more—I cannot wait—I have been so hungry for the sight of your dear face, for the sound of your voice, and I thought that I had lost you. I love you, Mona, with all my heart and strength, and this unexpected meeting has so overcome me that the truth must be told. Are you still 'glad'?—will you make me glad by telling me so?"
"But—Mr. Palmer—" Mona began, tremulously, hardly able to credit her ears, hardly able to believe that this great and almost overwhelming joy was a reality, and not some illusive dream. "I am afraid you forget—"
"What have I forgotten?" he gently asked, but without releasing her hand.
"That my uncle is gone. I have no home, friends, position! Do you know—"
"I know that you are Mona Montague—that I love you, and that I have found you," he interrupted, his own voice quivering with repressed emotion, his strong frame trembling with eager longing, mingled with something of fear that his suit might be rejected.
"Then I am glad," breathed Mona, and the next moment she was folded close to Raymond Palmer's manly bosom, where she could feel the beating of the strong, true, loyal heart of her lover while with his lips pressed upon her silken hair he murmured fond words which betrayed how deep and absorbing his affection was for her—how he had longed for her and how bitterly he had suffered because he could not find her.