And in time--in time, I'll teach you to love me in return and to forget the past.

Only say yes, sweetheart! I'll keep you so safe--so safe!" What magic is it teaches men how to answer the women they love--endows them with a quickness of perception denied them till the flame of love flares up within them, and doubly denied them should that flame burn low behind the bars of matrimony?
Surely it must be some cunning wile of old Dame Nature's--whose chief concern is, after all, the continuation of the species.

She it is who knows how to deck the peacock in fine feathers to the undoing of the plain little peahen, to crown the stag with the antlers of magnificence so that the doe's velvet eyes melt in adoration.

And shall not the same wise old Dame know how to add a glamour to the sons of men when one of them goes forth to seek his mate?
Had Roger been just his normal self that afternoon--his matter-of-fact, imperceptive self--he would never have known how to answer Nan's half-desperate question, and the rose-garden might have witnessed a different ending to the scene.

But Mother Mature was fighting on the side of this man-child of hers, whispering her age-old wisdom into his ears, and the tender comprehension of his answer fell like balm on Nan's sore heart.
"I'll keep you safe!" It was safety she craved most of all--the safety of some stronger barrier betwixt herself and Peter.