"I have been consumed with some very delicate business," she said, and notwithstanding the excitement she was laboring under, allowed him to caress her. At the same time he was regarding her strangely. For the first time he seemed to be aware of the fact that she was a rather strange person. He was trying to understand her eyes as everybody else had done, even herself.
"Will Agnes tell me what has kept her so busy and away, I know not where?" he asked tenderly. "Or would she rather not—now."
"She'd rather not—now," and she tried to be jolly, although she knew she must have failed miserably.
"Very well, my dear. But, sweet one, when are you going to become my own?"
She started. In the excitement she had so recently been through, the fact that she was engaged and expected to marry soon, had gone entirely out of her mind.
"Why, really—when?" She paused in her confusion, and he said quickly:
"Let's just get married—today!"
"Oh, no, please don't ask me to so soon."
He frowned. Then he was pleasant again. "Then, when, Agnes?"
She was still confused, and in that moment thought of the legacy. She was more confused. He caught her hand then, and touched her cheek with his lips.