Elsie was looking downward, tapping the carpet lightly with one small foot. He gazed at her with his heart seeming to pound madly in his throat.
Surely she was the sweetest and most beautiful of all girls! He could not doubt it. He thought of other girls, and to him the fairest of them were as common clay beside her.
“I love her!” he told himself. “I must win her—I will!”
How could he begin to say what he wished to express? With sudden determination, he rose and walked over to the window near her.
“This is a beautiful place, Elsie,” he said, looking out of the window.
“Very beautiful,” she answered, rising. “Virginia is delightful in the spring time.”
“Ah, but I have,” she confessed. “You know I was quite a stranger here, and I could not help being lonesome a little. Besides, I used to long to see you all at New Haven.”
“Whom do you mean by ‘you all’?” he asked.
“Why, you and Frank, and all the friends I know there.”
“If Frank were to ask you that question, you would answer, ‘You and Bart.’”
“I thought you did not intentionally place me first,” he said; “but I hoped you did.”
She looked up quickly, and that glance made his heart beat still more swiftly.
“Bart,” she said, “I would not intentionally place either one of you before the other.”
His heart seemed to drop back into his bosom with a thud.
He knew he must brace up at once. He looked on her, and the fire returned to his heart.
“Elsie,” he said swiftly, yet gently, taking her hand, “I love you! You know that, for I have told you so before now. My love has not changed in the least, unless it has grown stronger. I know it has taken a firmer hold on me, for now I feel that I cannot live without you!”
The hot blood had rushed to his face, and he was trembling again. He drew her toward him, and she felt his panting breath on her cheek, which had paled as he grew flushed.
“Don’t stop me, Elsie—please listen! You must listen! This love is filling my heart with fire! It is burning out my soul! Elsie, if you could love me in return! I would do anything for you, sweetheart! I would give you my life’s devotion! I would protect you from every storm and hardship! I would take you in my arms and bear you tenderly over all the rough places in the journey of life! I know I am not worthy of you, dear girl—I know it, but still I cannot give up the thought that I may win you! It is like giving up my very life! I will try to make myself worthy! I will do everything to bring myself nearer your level, which I know I can never reach!”