She had wanted to see him so, the dear child, the fair, wonderful lady, that she had come through the heat of this burning afternoon, stealing away alone from all her friends, and even from her own decorous self, for his sake.

He pointed to the clear space under the pine where he had been lying.

"Shall we sit down there--a minute ?" he stammered.
"I--think I--had better go," said Lucina, faintly, with the quick impulse of maidenhood to flee from that which it has sought.
"Only a few minutes--I have something to tell you." They sat down, Lucina with her back against the pine-tree, Jerome at her side.

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but instead it widened into a vacuous smile.

He looked at Lucina and she at him, then he came closer to her and took her in his arms.
Neither of them spoke.