“And still you would have married me then.”

“Yes,” simply.

“And now?”

The girl did not answer, did not even look up. 311

“And now,” he repeated insistently, “tell me; and now?”

This time the brown eyes lifted, met his steadily.

“Unless something happens I can’t marry you now,” she said.

Armstrong looked at her; at first dazedly, then with a trace of color gathering under his fair skin.

“Unless something happens?” he repeated. “Pardon me, but what do you mean by that?”

“Nothing,” swiftly. “I was thinking of something else. I hate to hurt you; but as I said before, it’s useless to temporize. I can’t marry you now, Steve.”