CHAPTER VII
KISSES
“To thank me?” she repeated, round-eyed. “You mean that is what brings you here—to thank me for such a little thing?”
“Not such a little thing, either,” he replied with a smile, as he rose; “the saving, perhaps, of my life and my comrade’s.”
“Oh, indeed, yes—a very great thing!—but a little thing to do—so easily done. And to come all the way hither to thank—” She stopped short and looked at him steadily, then blushed deeper. “Oh!—you will think me a fool, sir:—for a moment I believed exactly what you said; I made no allowance for compliment; I am inexperienced, as you can see.”
“Nay, but upon my honour I spoke the truth,” he protested in surprise.
“Then you indeed came here only to thank me?”
“To thank you, but not only that. I came to see and hear you.”
“You mean—nothing else—brought you to this neighbourhood?”
“Nothing but you. Had I not met you at the inn yesterday, I should now be with my friend, far on the road Southward.”
The look of apprehension returned to her face.