Yet at the same time a little tremor he could feel coming from her hands told him that, as if for the first time, she was conscious of him as a man.
“Shall I tell you something?” he asked and his voice was very deep.
She was listening, her eyes on his, as he continued,
“You tell me you have been happier these last days than you have ever been before and I feel the same. I think what we have both been feeling, Honora, is the awakening of love.
It was impossible for her to take her eyes from his and, as he saw the colour creeping up her cheeks almost like the dawn creeping up the sky, he thought that it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.
Then, as her fingers tightened on his and he knew that she was finding it hard to breathe, he said,
“I love you, darling, but I have been
