[Pg 120]"Yes." [Pg 120] "Are you coming back?" "Perhaps—next year." "Next—year!" "Do you—find it—a long time?" Her straight brows bent inward a little, the startled gray eyes became clear and steady. "Of course I knew that you must go—some time. But I had no idea that it would be so soon. Somehow, I have thought of you as being—here——" "Do you care?" Her honest eyes widened. "Care?" she repeated. "Yes. How greatly do you care?" The straight brows contracted still more as she stood considering him—so close that the fresh and subtle youth of [Pg 121]her freshened the night again with its faint perfume. [Pg 121] Again he touched her hands with his lips, she watching him palely, out of clear, gray eyes; then, as they turned away together, he encircled her slender waist with his arm. That she was conscious of it, and not disturbed by it, was part of her new mystery to him. Only once, as they walked, when his circling clasp tightened, did she rest her own hand over his where it held her body imprisoned. But she said nothing; nor had he spoken when the belt of pines loomed against the stars once more. Then, though neither had spoken, they stopped. He turned to face her, drew her into his arms, and the beating [Pg 122]of his heart almost suffocated him as he looked into her eyes, clear, unshrinking eyes of gray, with a child's question in their starry depths. [Pg 122] And he answered the question as in a dream: "I love you. I want you for my wife. I want you to love me. You are the first woman I have cared for. All that you
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