"Yes."
"With all your heart?"
"I think so."
In the tremulous silence she turned again and looked at him, bending very low over her work.
"Will you be gentle with me, Kervyn?"
"Dearest——"
"I mean—considerate—at first.... There is a great deal I don't know about men—and being in love with one of them.... Brought up as I have been, I could not understand that you should take me—in your arms.... I was not angry—not even ashamed.... Only, never having thought of it—and taking it for granted that, among people of your caste and mine, to touch a man's lips was an act—of betrothal—perhaps of marriage——"
"Yes, I understand now. But for a while I felt—strangely—overwhelmed.... You can understand—having no mother—and suddenly face to face with—you——"
She leaned her cheek against the back of the chair and rested so, her small white hands folded over her sewing.