"
"Then we deserve to be punished and I hope we shall be."
"How will that help? It's just life and we can't make it different."
She drew gently away from him, while a clairvoyance wiser than her years
saddened her features. "I wonder if love ever lasts?" she whispered half
to herself.
But there was no room in his more practical mind for the question. "Ours
will, sweetheart--how can you doubt it? Haven't I loved you for the last
ten years, not counting the odd days?"
"And in all those years you kissed me once, while in the last five
minutes you've kissed me--how many times? You are wasteful, Abel."
"And you're a dreadful little witch--not a woman."
"I suppose I am, and a nice girl wouldn't talk like this. I'm not the
wife you're wanting, Abel."
"The first and last and only one, my darling."
"Judy Hatch would suit you better if she wasn't in love with the
rector."
"Confound Judy Hatch! I'll stop your mouth with kisses if you mention
her again."
At this she clung to him, laughing and crying in a sudden passion of
fear.
"Hold me fast, Abel, and don't let me go, whatever happens," she said.
Pages:
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230