"What was I doing?" she said.
"Breaking my heart with your trouble—poor little woman. Tell me who hurt you, and I'll kill him at once. Why, your wrists are all bruised and red. Who dared to touch you?"
But she would not say.
"Then I won't bully you by asking questions, dear. I love you too much for that. I came the first moment I could when I got the button."
"What button?" she asked with the frankest innocence.
"What button!" he laughed. "A little bit of brass that said 'Come back'—that said 'I love you, Blackguard, though you are a bad lot.'"
"You are, you know."
"I was until I loved you, dear; but now—by the mercy that is in love—I'm good again. Do you know what is the loveliest thing God ever made?—Laughter and tears mixed up in a woman's face. And you've confessed you love me!"
"Don't be silly."
"That means, don't wait," and so he kissed her on the lips.