“Mr. Towne—please.” He was very close to her.
“Kiss me, Jane.”
She held her slender figure away from him. “You must not.”
“I must.”
“No, really.... Please,” she was breathing quickly. “Please.” She was on her feet, the tea-table between them.
He saw his mistake. “Forgive me.”
Her candid eyes met his. “Mr. Towne, would you have acted like this ... with Edith’s friends?”
Edith’s friends! The child’s innocence! Adelaide’s kisses went for a song. Eloise frankly offered hers. Edith was saved by only some inner grace.
“Jane, they are not worth your little finger. I put you above all. On a pedestal. Honestly. And I want you to marry me.”
“But I don’t love you.”