"I hope this will make you more affectionate to me, dear Mona," I said;
and then, as she made no answer, I continued:
"If we reach the shore alive and get home safe you will love me more than
you do Foedric, will you not?"
I thought this would bring an answer, and I was not disappointed, except
in the manner in which it came. Not the faintest note escaped from her
lips, but a throb of feeling came along her arm, and her hand grasped my
shoulder with unmistakable vigor. I suppose she thought I would understand
what this answer meant, but I was puzzled. It might mean so many things.
Perhaps her heart was softening toward me and she was so much affected by
her love for me, stronger and deeper than she had ever thought it could
be, that she dared not speak. With this possibility in view I began to
feel very tender toward her and to experience the pleasure of one whose
love is returned in full measure.
But then her answer might have quite a different meaning. What if she were
telling me that she had determined never to speak another word on that
subject, and that my question was an offense to her? Surely she had told
me often enough to talk about more sensible things, and perhaps this was
only a new and forcible way of repeating the same injunction.
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