XVI. LORD COURLAND PROPOSES TO MRS. CALVERLEY.
To many a courageous man a proposal is a formidable business, but Lord Courland certainly did not appear to find it so; nor was it necessary for the beautiful widow to give him any encouragement.
“Need I say I adore you?” he exclaimed. “You must be conscious that from the first moment I beheld you I was fascinated by your charms.”
She smiled softly, but made no audible response.
He continued in the same passionate strain.
“Let me have a word to say I am not an object of indifference to you—that you requite my love.”
She regarded him more tenderly than before, but spoke not.
He could not misunderstand the look.
“You love me!” he cried. “Your eyes confess more than your lips are willing to avow! You force me to snatch an answer from them!” he added, suiting the action to the word.