"Ay, but I do. Have you supposed I could not read the message of those eyes? Oh, it may be dark, dear, but there is a star-gleam, and when the lashes lift—they confess a thousand times more than your lips acknowledge. Yet I insist on the lips! Now tell me," and I held her to me, "tell me!"
"There are but three words to speak; whisper them, dear, and I go."
"Three words!"
"Such easy words; they are trembling on your lips now—I love you."
"But if I do not; if they are false. Hush! There is some one on the veranda—Seldon must have returned."
"All the more reason why you should speak quickly," I whispered, without releasing her.
"Will you go, then? At once?"
"I pledge my word."
She drew a deep breath, her eyes shadowed, but I could hear the swift pulsing of her heart.