He was
no longer hers, loving, regretting, always yearning after her, the
unattainable! Had he not said only to-day that neither of them had aught
to regret? Was this what he had really felt through the long years of
their separation? Was it she who had forfeited him, rather than he who
had lost her? She sat quite still, almost stunned by the realization, a
vague sense of bereavement upon her. A woman's faith in the constancy of
a lover is a robust endowment! It withstands change and time and many a
coercive intimation.
"I suppose," she said at length, quite humbly, "it is natural that you
should say that to me."
"You asked for it," he replied tersely.
Then they were both silent for a space, looking down at the group on the
veranda of the bungalow.
"May I have the honor and pleasure of your company, madam?" Briscoe had
asked his wife with fantastic formality.
"You may _not_!" she rejoined with a gay laugh.
"And why not?"
"I declare, Ned, you live so much up here in the wilderness, with your
bears and deer and catamounts and mountaineers, that you are likely to
forget all the _bienseance_ you ever knew.
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