.

Men's kindness is a strange thing; they may try and try, and a girl may know they are trying and, in her turn, try to be grateful.

But it is all effort on both sides.
Then--with a word--an impulse born of chance or instinct--a man may say and do that which a woman can never forget--and would not if she could." "Have I done--that ?" "Yes.

Didn't you understand?
Do you suppose any other man in the world could have what you have had of me--of my real self?
Do you suppose for one instant that any other man than you could ever obtain from me the confidence I offer you unasked?
Do I not tell you everything that enters my head and heart?
Do you not know that I care for you more than for anybody alive ?" "Gerald--" She looked him straight in the eyes; her breath caught, but she steadied her voice: "I've got to be truthful," she said; "I care for you more than for Gerald." "And I for you more than anybody living," he said.
"Is it true ?" "It is the truth, Eileen." "You--you make me very happy, Captain Selwyn." "But--did you not know it before I told you ?" "I--y-yes; I hoped so." In the exultant reaction from the delicious tension of avowal she laughed lightly, not knowing why.
"The pleasure in it," she said, "is the certainty that I am capable of making you happy.

You have no idea how I desire to do it.