“Gordon, if I take this ring and wear it, I’ll be engaged to you. And if you come back safely, it means that we’ll be married.”
“Pray God I come!”
“Do you know what it means for a girl to be engaged to a man? After the word is spoken, that man will be my life and my world.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t you see at what a cruel disadvantage you’re placing me? To leave this until the last moment so? To ask me to love you forever—while in my heart there’s the least little doubt?”
“You know I didn’t mean it for an intrigue, Madge.”
“True! I can’t conceive of you doing such a thing—now. And yet, oh, Gordon, I want so much to make you happy, to reward you for your manhood and your faith and your hope. And yet, dear boy, I want to be happy, deliriously happy, myself. Not for my own selfishness but because that much will also be due to you!”
Her appeal was suddenly that of the lonely little orphan girl pleading for a chance to give of her nameless life and love to its fullest.
“Gordon!”
“Yes, dear?”