Page:Adams - A Child of the Age.djvu/190

178 Then, looking at my booted toes shoving together on the carpet as before, I began: 'We've both, it seems, been making fools of ourselves, especially I. Now listen to me. Did you intend this to mean that you wanted to go with me abroad? Yes or no?'

'Yes,' she said, 'yes!' 'Did you understand what I told you about the crime I'd committed, and the rest of it? Did you understand it, what it meant?' 'I don't mind about it,' she said, 'one bit, so long as they don't catch you. And I'm sure they won't!'

'How do you know that?'

'It would be so cruel!'

'What would be so cruel?'

'Now that I've got you, for them to take you straight away from me again!' (She shook her head.) 'I'm sure they won't! I'm sure they won't!'

Her tone of voice, almost fierce, made me laugh.

'Rosy,' I said, 'I'm too tired to spend an hour in asking you to consider what a serious question all this is. Do you understand that our life will be a hard one—perhaps a very hard one? '

'Yes,' she said; 'I don't mind one bit!'

'Do you understand that I won't marry you—now or ever?'

No answer.

'Ah,' I said, 'You didn't understand that? You thought I was joking? I was not. I am not. I am in earnest. I will never marry you, if you come with me: never, O never!' I rose and stood before her, and looked at her looking fiercely at me.

'Now,' I said, 'answer me simply; but do not hurry. Reflect before you answer. Don't be afraid of saying "No." Believe I shall not break my heart if you say "No."'

She looked down now, and seemed to be thinking. What of? Did she believe that I wouldn't break my heart if she said 'No'? If that was her thought, I must answer it.

'This very night,' I said, 'I asked another woman