Then he might not have held himself in check, but she fell back a bit before him, and he fancied her movement was one of repulsion.
Something told him that it would be a terrible blow if she were to repulse him now. And it was possible she still cared for Starbright—or thought she cared.
“Go slow, Frank Merriwell!” something seemed to whisper in his ear. “You have given this girl every reason to think you cared more for another, now be careful not to make a break that may cause her to doubt your sincerity.”
And so, by his own good sense, he was restrained.
“Why should you be thinking of Fardale?” she asked, her girlish curiosity aroused.
“Why—why, I don’t know, exactly. Something—some talk brought it to my mind.”
She was surprised to note that he, usually so direct and straightforward, seemed rather confused and faltered somewhat.
“Those were happy days,” she murmured softly.
“In truth, they were!” he exclaimed. “We did not dream how happy at the time.”
“Nor did we dream of the strange things to happen in the future. I often think, Frank, that I can never again be quite as happy as I was back there.”
“Oh, but you,” she said—“you have everything to make you happy!”
He longed to tell her then that there was one thing he did not possess—one thing that would make him happier than all else. The words rose to his lips. Had he spoken them a direct proposal must have followed. At that moment, however, one of the guests of the house looked into the parlor, which was sufficient to deter him for the time.
Somehow, this repression of his feelings simply seemed to make them more intense, as is usually the case with every one. Now that he feared to speak out, he longed to do so most intensely. He inquired for Mr. Burrage.
“I am truly worried about him,” Inza declared. “These spells of illness are becoming more frequent, and he feels that he may not live long. That is why he was seized by a sudden desire to see Fardale again.”
“Perhaps it will do him good to visit your old home. I hope so.”
“I hope so, too, Frank. If father should die——”
She stopped with such an expression of pain on her face that all the sympathy and pity of his nature stirred.
“Don’t worry, Inza; that will not happen for many years to come.”