“You are doing it,—doing it better than any man I ever knew.”
He threw on some more wood. “I’ll have to hunt fuel in a minute,” he said, and stirred the fire to a blaze.
“What did your mother say that changed your mind about—about—”
“About waiting to get married?” he finished as she hesitated, and repeated much of the conversation prompted by the pinching of the geranium buds.
Erminie was silent again, and Billy waited on her mood. When she did speak her words were plaintive and halting. “Billy,—Billy, dear, it would be a very wrong thing for you to marry me. I am older, anyway, and it would wreck your life to be hampered with a—a wife when you’re so young. Perhaps—perhaps there’ll be—”
“Perhaps children,” he finished fearlessly. “I’ve thought that all out; but you need me to take care of you; and after—this—this night, it’s got to be.”
“Oh! oh!” She cowered a little closer. “People won’t know of—of this—” She put her hand over her eyes and shivered.
“They may; and—”
“It’s awful!” she burst out. “Just because an accident happens, for people to talk—say bad things about us.”
“They won’t think it an accident, Erminie. Don’t you see? I have a watch—all our set know how foolishly I’ve bragged about it. We had our strict orders not to go out of sight—”