ntion of twenty for
long if he had nothing but his love to offer?

Such thoughts were hurrying through her heated mind as Martin slowly
laid himself beside her. He said nothing, but lost himself in a flood of
ceaseless ponderings. After stretching some of the tiredness out of his
throbbing muscles, he relaxed and lay quietly, trying to recall exactly
what he had said. Did his wife suspect that there might be no truth in
the remark that Rose would never know how he felt toward her? At moments
he felt that the girl already divined it, again he was not so sure. It
was hard to be certain, but the more he thought about it the more hope
he began to feel that she would yet be wholly his. Her admiration and
trust belonged to him now, but there might be moral scruples which he
would have to overcome. There would be the difficulty of convincing
her that she would be doing her aunt no wrong. She would gain courage,
however, from his own heedlessness. That same daring which he had just
shown with the older Rose and which had impressed her into silence would
eventually move his flower to him. He had thrown down the bars. Secrecy
was now out of the question and it was well that he was moving thus in
the open. Rose might shrink at first from the plain-spokenness of the
situation, but this phase would soon pass and then the fact that she
knew he was not hiding his love for her even from his wife would make
it far easier to press his suit and possibly to bring it to a swift
consummation.

He must win her! He must. He had been mad to admit to himself, much less
to his Rag-weed, that there was any doubt of this outcome. It might take
a few more days, a week, not longer than that. But what should he do
when Rose gave the message to him? Could he go away with her? This
bothered him for a while. Of course, he would have to. He could not send
his wife away. The community would not tolerate this. Martin knew
his neighbors. He did not care a snap for their good opinion, but he
realized exactly how much they could hurt him if he violated their
prejudices beyond a certain point. Fortunately, there are millions of
communities in the world. This one would rise against him and denounce,
another would accept them as pleasant strangers. He might be taken for
Rose's father! He would fight this with tireless care. Yes, he would
have to go away. But his business interests--what about his farm, his
cattle, his machinery, his bank stock, his mortgages, hi