We should be doing our duty
and talking a little to every one. Let us go back and make up for lost
time."
She rose to her feet, but found him standing in the way. For once the
long humorous mouth was set fast, his eyes were no longer full of the
shadow of laughter, his tone had a new note in it, the note which a
woman never fails to understand.
"Dear Lady Caroom," he said, "I was not altogether jesting."
She looked him in the eyes.
"Dear friend," she answered, "I know that you were not, and so I think
that we had better go back."
He detained her very gently.
"It is the dearest hope I have in life," he said, softly. "Do not let
me run the risk of being misunderstood. Will you be my wife?"
She shook her head. There were tears in her eyes, but her gesture was
significant enough.
"It is impossible," she said. "I have loved another man all my life."
He offered her his arm at once.
"Then I believe," he said, in a low tone, "in the old saying--that a
glimpse of paradise is sufficient to blind the strongest man...."
They passed into the reception-room, and came face to face with Brooks.
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