第103章

"When you lifted your head in the moonlight and gazed long and earnestly at me--Ah, those dear eyes!--your look suddenly made me self-conscious.There swept over me a sense of my own exceeding plainness, and of how little there was in what those dear eyes saw, to provide reason, for that adoring look.Overwhelmed with a shy shame I pressed your head back to the place where the eyes would be hidden; and I realise now what a different construction you must have put upon that action.Garth, I assure you, that when you lifted your head the second time, and said, 'My wife,' it was the first suggestion to my mind that this wonderful thing which was happening meant--marriage.I know it must seem almost incredible, and more like a child of eighteen, than a woman of thirty.But you must remember, all my dealings with men up to that hour had been handshakes, heartiest comradeship, and an occasional clap on the shoulder given and received.And don't forget, dear King of my heart, that, until one short week before, you had been amongst the boys who called me 'good old Jane,' and addressed me in intimate conversation as 'my dear fellow'! Don't forget that I had always looked upon you as YEARS younger than myself; and though a strangely sweet tie had grown up between us, since the evening of the concert at Overdene, I had never realised it as love.Well--you will remember how I asked for twelve hours to consider my answer; and you yielded, immediately; (you were so perfect, all the time, Garth) and left me, when I asked to be alone; left me, with a gesture I have never forgotten.It was a revelation of the way in which the love of a man such as you exalts the woman upon whom it is outpoured.The hem of that gown has been a sacred thing to me, ever since.It is always with me, though I never wear it.--A detailed account of the hours which followed, I shall hope to give you some day, my dearest.