"
"Nothing of the sort! As a matter of fact, I was very careful.
But," he proceeded, with a sudden wave of memory, "I don't think
my heart will ever beat normally again. It seemed as though it
would tear its way out of my side when I leaned towards you, and
you knew, and you lay still."
She laughed.
"You surely didn't expect I was going to get up? It was quite
encouragement enough to remain passive. As a matter of fact,"
she went on, "I couldn't have moved. I couldn't have uttered a
sound. I suppose I must have been like one of those poor birds
you read about, when some devouring animal crouches for its last
spring."
"Compliments already!" he remarked. "You won't forget that my
name is Francis, will you? Try and practise it while I carve the
chicken."
"You carve very badly, Francis," she told him demurely.
"My dear," he said, "thank heavens we shall be able to afford a
butler! By-the-bye, I told your father this morning that I was
going to marry you, and he didn't seem to think it possible
because he had two million pounds."
"Braggart!" she murmured. "When did you see my father?"
"He came to my rooms in the Temple soon after I arrived this
morning. He seemed to think I might know where you were. I dare
say he won't like me for a son-in-law," Francis continued with a
smile.
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