"But the girl you met too late—"
"Was you, dear child! I am a generation ahead of my time; otherwise I believe it might have been."
He smiled as he always did when deeply moved, but this time the sadness showed through the mask. As the full comprehension of his words came to her, Merry's color faded but she looked into his face with a woman's candor.
"Is the difference in our ages the only reason?" she asked.
"Alas! that is enough!"
"No, no!" she cried impulsively. "You wouldn't let that stand between us!"
"Do you realize what you are saying, Merry? It can't be that you understand!"
"I do! I do!" she cried. "Please don't stop. Say it to me!"
He placed his arm around her and drew her to him. "Can it possibly be?" he demanded incredulously. "Can this really have come to me?"
Merry hid her face on his shoulder. "Say it!" she insisted, "please,—please say it!"