"I was alone during my hour."
"I have been alone for an entire year," he said under his breath.
"What?"
She had heard him, but her abrupt question seemed to have been beaten out sharply from her startled heart.
He made no reply; she stood, one hand clasping the chain, not looking at him, conscious of the clamor of her heart.
"Miss Rivett," he said, "am I too much of a fool—too hopeless a thing for you to listen to?"
"What do you mean?" she said faintly.
"I mean that—this night, now, for the first time since I knew you—I can use, decently, honorably, whatever liberty of speech you permit me."
Presently her white hand relaxed, the chain slipped through her fingers; she sank down on the swinging seat.
After a moment he stepped toward her. She raised her head in the moonlight, and he saw the tears in her eyes.