'Because I can't help it!'
'What do you mean?'
'I can't help it,—Can't you see,' she said, turning full unfathomed eyes on me, 'I can't help it! I love every muscle in your body.'
The simplicity of thought, and voice and word made me say, with a suspicion of a small smile round the corners of my mouth: 'That's awkward,' and bring my eyes down to the hearthrug, while I thought for a moment of that last expression of hers and its meaning.
Then, looking up:
'Would you like me to marry you?' I asked. Her eyes went as imfathomed as before into the red-ember realm again, and became distant. Her lips said slowly:
'I should like to have you without the sin; but …'
'Well'
'I shouldn't like you to marry me.'
'Why?'
No answer.
I repeated:
'Why?'
'Can't you see,' she said, turning her eyes to me, 'why I shouldn't like you to marry me?'
'No.'
She looked to the red-ember realm once more, but not into it, and her eyes became dreamy.
At last she spoke. 'I don't think,' she said, 'you'd care for me even as much as you do now if you married me. No' (she shook her head), 'I wouldn't like you to marry me. Besides …'
'Well?'
'You will want to marry some one,' she said, suddenly looking at me, 'some day.'
'No,' I said, 'I shall never want to marry—any one!'
'Ah,' she said, 'wait till you love some one—and then!' She nodded her head.
'Why do you think I didn't marry you?' I asked.
'Because you didn't want to!' she said.
'No! At least, no to your thought.'
'What do you mean?'
