He did kiss them, and she stood unresisting. But she trembled.
"I know, Jack, now," she said softly. "It all came upon me in a moment, when your lips touched mine. O Jack, Jack! it was as if something snapped; as if a veil fell from my eyes. I know now what you meant when you said just now that you loved me."
"Do you, Phil? And can you love me, too?"
"Yes, Jack. I will tell you when I am able to talk again. Let me sit down. Sit with me, Jack."
She drew him beside her on the sofa and murmured low, while he held her hands.
"Do you like to sit just so, holding my hands? Are you better now, Jack?
"Do you think, Jack, that I can have always loved you—without knowing it all—just as you love me? O my poor Jack!
"My heart beats so fast. And I am so happy. What have you said to me, Jack, that I should be so happy?
"See, the sun has come out—and the showers are over and gone—and the birds are singing—all the sweet birds—they are singing for me, Jack, for you and me—Oh, for you and me!"
Her voice broke down again, and she hid her face upon her lover's shoulder, crying happy tears.