Still she did not look at him.

Claudius held out his right hand, palm upward, to meet hers.
"Shall you mind much ?" he asked earnestly, with intent eyes.

She met his hand and took it.
"Yes, I shall be very sorry." Claudius slipped from the rock where he was sitting, and fell upon one knee before her, kissing the hand she gave as though it had been the holy cross.

He looked up, his face near hers, and at last he met her eyes, burning with a startled light under the black brows, contrasting with the white of her forehead, and face, and throat.

He looked one moment.
"Shall you really mind very much ?" he asked a third time, in a strange, lost voice.