But Roy was little used to being thwarted--by home elements, at least: and when an idea seized him he could be pertinacious, even to the point of folly. He was determined Tara should come with him. And Tara wanted to come. Add her permanent dearness and her newly-found loveliness, and there sprang from the conjunction a second inspiration, even bolder than the first.
"Tara--dear," he ventured, in a changed tone that halted between tenderness and appeal. "I'm going to say--something tremendous."
She deserted the daisy and faced him, blue eyes wide; her tell-tale lower lip drawn in.
"Would it be--quite so 'crazily--utterly'--if ... well, if we were engaged?"
The tremendous word was out; and the effect on her was unmistakable. Colour stirred visibly in her face. She straightened herself with an air that seemed physically to increase the distance between them.
"Really, Roy--have you _quite_ lost your senses to-day?"
He looked--and felt--crestfallen. "But, Tara," he urged, "it's such a supreme idea. Wouldn't you--think of it, ever? We'd fit like a pair of gloves. Mummy would love it--extravagantly. And we've been kind of--caring all these years. At least"--sudden doubt assailed him--"I suppose you _do_ care still--a little bit?"
"Silly boy! Of course I--care ... a lot."
That was more like the Tara he knew. "Very well. _Why_ accuse me of incipient lunacy? I care, too. Always have done. Think how topping it would be, you and I together, exploring all the wonderland of our Game and Mummy's tales--Udaipur, Amber, Chitor, perhaps the shrine of the real Tara----"
Still demurely distant, she thought "how topping it would be"; and the thought kept her silent so long that he grew impatient.
"High Tower Princess--do give over. Your grown-up airs are awfully sweet--but not to the point. You are coming? It'll spoil everything now, if you don't."
She shook her head with a small wise smile that seemed to push him away from her, gently yet inexorably; to make him feel little more than a schoolboy confronted by a woman; very young in her new shyness and dignity, but still--a woman.
"No, Roy--I'm not coming. It's--dear of you to want me. But I can't--for lots of reasons. So please understand, once for all. And don't fuss."