"Come and sit down."
His boyish nervousness and timidity left him. The strong man emerged and
took command. He guided her to a garden seat, under a drooping lime. She
sank upon the seat, quite unable to stand, beckoning him to stay by her.
So he stood near, reluctantly waiting, his heart contracting at the
sight of her.
At last she recovered herself and sat up.
"It was some bad news," she said, looking at him piteously, and holding
out her hand again. "It is too bad of me to greet you like this."
He took her hand, and his own self-control broke down. He raised it to
his lips with a stifled cry.
"Don't!--don't!" said Diana, helplessly. "Indeed--there is nothing the
matter--I am only foolish. It is so--so good of you to care." She drew
her hand from his, raised it to her brow, and, drawing a long breath,
pushed back the hair from her face. She was like a person struggling
against some torturing restraint, not knowing where to turn for help.
[Illustration: "ROUGHSEDGE STOOD NEAR, RELUCTANTLY WAITING"]
But at the word "care" he pulled himself together. He sat down beside
her, and plunged straight into his declaration.
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