She
reached him and stood before him.
"Dick," she said, "I am not like your mother. I've been fighting against
it, but it's too strong for me. I have got to marry--the man I love."
He made an impotent gesture, and she saw that he was trembling.
She stood a moment, then reached out, took his arms, and drew them
gently round her. "Are you still trying to send me away?" she said.
"Because--it's stronger than both of us, Dick--and I'm not going--I'm
not going!"
He looked into the shining, steadfast eyes, and suddenly the desperate
strain was over. His resistance snapped. "God forgive me!" he said under
his breath, and caught her passionately close.
There was that in his hold--perhaps because of the fulness of her
surrender--that had never been before,--something flaming, something
fiercely electric, in his swift acceptance of her. As he clasped her, she
felt the wild throbbing of his heart like the pulsing force of a racing
engine. He kissed her, and in his kiss there was more than the lover's
adoration. It held the demand and mastery of matehood. By it he claimed
and sealed her for his own.
When his hold relaxed, she made no effort to withdraw herself.
Pages:
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353