Page:An orchard princess (IA orchardprincess00barbiala).pdf/223

 a whole lot, dear, and it still matters. You can't make a man suffer as you made me suffer without its mattering. Why did you write it?"

"Oh, please!" she said, quickly, with a swift, beseeching glance. "I didn't mean you to suffer! I didn't think you—cared—so much!"

"Cared! Why, I loved you, dear! Do you know what that means? That I thought of you day in and day out, and longed for just a glimpse of you as a thirsty man longs for water! That I'd have given anything in the world for just the chance to see you and touch you and hear you speak, for just the chance that is mine this moment! Cared! Is that caring?"

"Oh, yes, yes!" she cried. " That's caring! Don't you think I know? Don't you think I—I!"

She stopped, breathlessly, her