Almost as if the words fell from her lips without her really saying them, Iona whispered,
“I love – you! I love you!”
“And I love you, my darling,” he asserted. “If you think I was going to lose you, you are very much mistaken. You are mine and, when I looked at the fortune you had found for me, I knew it was unimportant beside you.”
“Are you really – saying this to me?” she stuttered.
“I have much more to say, but for the moment I only want to kiss you and make quite sure I have found you. If you hide from me again, I think I will kill myself.”
Iona put her head against his shoulder.
“I thought it would have caused a lot of problems – if I had stayed with you,” she whispered.
“There is just one problem for me,” he replied, “and that is I might lose you again! We are going to be mar
