“No,” said Jimmie. “Of course not.”
“I don't see any 'of course' in the matter. The ordinary man would have speculated—it would have been natural—almost common-sense.”
Jimmie threw up his hands deprecatingly.
“I have been too much dazzled by the glorious gift of yourself to think of anything else you might bring. I am an impossible creature, as you will find out. I ought to have considered the practical side.”
“Oh! I am very glad you did n't!” she exclaimed. “Heaven forbid you should have the mercenary ideas of the average man. It is beautiful to have thought of me only.”
“I am afraid I was thinking of myself, my dear,” said he. “I must get out of the way of it, and think of the two of us. Now let us be severely business-like. You have taken a load off my mind. There are a thousand things you can surround yourself with that I imagined you would lack.” He took her two hands and swung them backwards and forwards. “Now I shan't regard myself as such a criminal in asking you to marry me.”
“Do you think two hundred a year a fortune, Jimmie?” she asked.
“To the Rothschilds and Vanderbilts perhaps not—but everything is relative.”
“Everything?”
Her heart spoke suddenly, demanding relief. Their eyes met.