FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51  
52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   >>   >|  
ous grasp. "Ruth, Ruth!" he cried, and his voice was for once unsteady. "Give it no thought! I love you, Ruth. If you'll but heed that, no breath of scandal can hurt you." She swallowed hard. "As how?" she asked mechanically. He bowed low over her hand--so low that his face was hidden from her. "If you will do me the honour to become my wife..." he began, but got no further, for she snatched away her hand, her cheeks crimsoning, her eyes aflame with indignation. He stepped back, crimsoning too. She had dashed the gentleness from his mood. He was angered now and tigerish. "Oh!" she panted. "It is to affront me! Is this the time or place..." He cropped her flow of indignant speech ere it was well begun. He caught her in his arms, and held her tight, and so sudden was the act, so firm his grip that she had not the thought or force to struggle. "All time is love's time, all places are love's place," he told her, his face close to her own. "And of all time and places the present ever preferable to the wise--for life is uncertain and short at best. I bring you worship, and you answer me with scorn. But I shall prevail, and you shall come to love me in very spite of your own self." She threw back her head, away from his as far as the bonds he had cast about her would allow. "Air! Air!" she panted feebly. "Oh, you shall have air enough anon," he answered with a half-strangled laugh, his passion mounting ever. "Hark you, now--hark you, for Richard's sake, since you'll not listen for my own nor yours. There is another course by which I can save both Richard's life and honour. You know it, and you counted upon my generosity to suggest it. But you overlooked the thing on which you should have counted. You overlooked my love. Count upon that, my Ruth, and Richard shall have naught to fear. Count upon that, and when we meet this evening, Richard and I, it is I who will tender the apology, I who will admit that I was wrong to introduce your name into that company last night, and that what Richard did was a just and well-deserved punishment upon me. This will I do if you'll but count upon my love." She looked up at him fearfully, yet with flutterings of hope. "What is't you mean?" she asked him faintly. "That if you'll promise to be my wife..." "Your wife!" she interrupted him. She struggled to free herself, released one arm and struck him in the face. "Let me go, you coward!" He was answered. His arms melted
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51  
52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Richard

 
crimsoning
 

thought

 

panted

 

overlooked

 

counted

 
answered
 

places

 

honour

 
naught

suggest

 
listen
 

passion

 

mounting

 
strangled
 
generosity
 
promise
 

interrupted

 

faintly

 
struggled

coward

 

melted

 

struck

 

released

 

flutterings

 

introduce

 

apology

 
evening
 

tender

 

company


looked
 
fearfully
 
punishment
 

deserved

 

preferable

 
aflame
 
indignation
 

stepped

 

cheeks

 

snatched


dashed

 
gentleness
 

cropped

 

indignant

 

affront

 

angered

 

tigerish

 
unsteady
 

breath

 
scandal