Both were trembling, and while the swans floated by, they considered the depth of blue contained in the sky. He was taken with a little dread, and was surprised to find in himself a vague, haunting belief in the possibility of an after life. Suddenly his self-consciousness fell from him, was merged in his instinct of the woman.
“Evelyn, if I don’t marry you I shall lose you. I cannot lose you, that would be to lose everything. I don’t ask any questions, whether you like Ulick Dean, nor even what your relations are. I only want to know if you will marry me.”
He read in her eyes that the tale of their love was ended, and heard his future life ring hollow. It seemed strange that at such a moment the serene swans should float about them, that the water-fowl should move in and out of the reed
