He bit his lip and frowned at the sunlit water.
"Besides," she said, "I haven't anything to offer you that I haven't already given you——"
"I ask no more."
"Oh, but you do!"
"No, I want only what you want, Strelsa—only what you have to offer of your own accord."
They fell silent, leaning forward on their knees, eyes absent, remote.
"I don't see how it can be done; do you?" she said.
"If you could wait——"
"But Rix; I've told him that I would marry him."
"Does that count?"