Yet as at last his lips left hers, she turned her face aside, hiding it from him that he might not see how completely he had triumphed.
He laughed a little above her bent head; he did not need to see.
"Stella, you and I have got to sink or swim together.

If you won't have success with me, then I will share your failure." She quivered at his words; she was clinging to him almost without knowing it.

"Oh, no! Oh, no!" she said.
His hand came gently upwards and lay upon her head.

"My dear, that rests with you.

I have sworn that marriage to me shall not mean bondage.