"
"What should I be callin' you?"
"Frank."
"I could not. Oh, no!"
"But you love me--don't you?"
"I could not help lovin' you. I want to be with you--that's all."
"All!"
So faint that he hardly heard, she whispered: "I shall die if I can't be
with you."
Ashurst took a mighty breath.
"Come and be with me, then!"
"Oh!"
Intoxicated by the awe and rapture in that "Oh!" he went on, whispering:
"We'll go to London. I'll show you the world.
"And I will take care of you, I promise, Megan. I'll never be a brute to
you!"
"If I can be with you--that is all."
He stroked her hair, and whispered on:
"To-morrow I'll go to Torquay and get some money, and get you some
clothes that won't be noticed, and then we'll steal away. And when
we get to London, soon perhaps, if you love me well enough, we'll be
married."
He could feel her hair shiver with the shake of her head.
"Oh, no! I could not. I only want to be with you!"
Drunk on his own chivalry, Ashurst went on murmuring, "It's I who am not
good enough for you. Oh! Megan, when did you begin to love me?"
"When I saw you in the road, and you looked at me. The first night I
loved you; but I never thought you would want me.
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