"
"But I do--I haven't had a moment's peace since."
"Indeed! Why?" and I bent lower, eager to read her eyes. "Because even
in that little time you had learned to care for me?"
"Your words are insolent," rising to her feet, proudly, but I remained
directly in her path.
"No, Miss Willifred," earnestly, "they are not, because they come from
the heart. You are a woman, and therefore you understand. You cannot be
angry with me, no matter how hard you try. You are endeavoring to
deceive yourself, but the effort is useless. You do care for me--that
was why you waited for me to get safely across the river; that was why
you have come to me now. Ever since I left you in the grape arbor I have
been in your thoughts."
"And why I was also about to marry Captain Le Gaire, I suppose," she
interposed defiantly, but with eyes unable to meet mine.
"I can comprehend that easily enough, helped by what I overheard. You
cannot tell me you desired to marry Captain Le Gaire--can you?"
"No," for I stopped, and thus compelled an answer. "It would be useless
to deny that."
"I was so sure of this that I acted, took the one course open to me to
prevent your doing this wrong. I deliberately determined to risk your
displeasure rather than permit the sacrifice.
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