"Isn't it beautiful?" she said proudly. "Oh, Trevor, you don't know what it means to me to feel it isn't going to be sold after all."
He smiled. "I understood it was going to be sold and presented to my wife for a wedding-gift."
She turned her face up to his. "Trevor, you don't think I'm ungrateful too, do you?"
"My darling," he said, "I think that gratitude between you and me is out of place at any time. Remember, though I give you this and a thousand other things, you are giving me--all you have."
She pressed his arm shyly. "It doesn't seem very much, does it?" she said.
He laid his hand upon hers. "You can make it much," he said very gently.
"Oh!" Her eyes fell instantly, and he saw the hot colour rise and overspread her face. "Oh, but not yet!" she said, almost imploringly. "Please, not yet!"
His own face changed a little, hardened almost imperceptibly, but he gave no sign of impatience. "In your own time, dear," he said quietly. "Heaven knows I should be the last to persuade you against your will."
"Aunt Philippa is always worrying me about it," she told him, with a catch in her voice. "And I--I--after all, I'm only twenty-one."
"What does she worry you for?" he said, a hint of sternness in his voice.
She glanced at him nervously. "Because--because I've no money. She says--she says--"
"I don't want to tell you," whispered Chris.
"Yes--I suppose so. She says that as I am bringing you nothing, I have no right to--to keep you waiting--that beggars can't be choosers, and--and things like that."
"My dear Chris!" he said. "And you take things like that to heart!"
"You see, they are true!" murmured Chris.
"They are not true. But all the same"--he began to smile again--"I can't for the life of me imagine why you won't marry me and get it over."
"No?" Chris suddenly looked up again; she was clinging to his arm very tightly with both hands. "It does seem rather silly, doesn't it?" she said, with resolute eyes raised to his. "Trevor, I--I'll think about it."
"Do!" he said. "Think about it quietly and sanely. And don't let yourself get frightened at nothing. As you say, it's silly."
"But you won't--press me?" she faltered. "You--you promised!"
But he was frowning slightly as he said it, and she was quick to note the fact. "Ah! don't be vexed with me," she pleaded very earnestly. "I know I'm foolish. I can't help it. It's the way I'm made."