"I 'll have to be wooed further before I give it," he declared, keenly relishing the situation.
"I 'll do it," she murmured. "I 'll do it. Tom, I love you better than all the world. With all my heart and soul I love you."
She knelt beside him and drew his head down on her shoulder.
"I love you," she whispered again, and held him close.
"But," he sighed in happy endurance of the unwonted attentions he was receiving, "Why do you love me so desperately? Is it because of my beauty or my goodness?"
"It's both, Tom."
"Oh, I have it," he exclaimed, "it's my wealth."
"Tom," she said reproachfully and rose to her feet, but before she could reprimand him for his last assertion his arm was around her waist.
"Bessie dear," he said solemnly, "do you know, for a moment in the joy of your coming I forgot my poverty."
"I did not, Tom," she answered.