"I haven't so much as received the offer yet; only Mr. Naylor has
mentioned it to me."
"Still, you'd like to be ready with your answer when the offer is made,
wouldn't you?" He drew suddenly away from her, and stood still on the
road, opposite to her. His face lost its playfulness; as it set into
gravity, the lines upon it deepened, and his eyes looked rather sad.
"This is wrong of me, perhaps, but I can't help it. I'm not going to talk
to you about myself. Confessions and apologies and excuses, and so on,
aren't in my line. I should probably tell lies if I attempted anything of
the sort. You must take me or leave me on your own judgment, on your own
feelings about me, as you've seen and known me--not long, but pretty
intimately, Mary." He suddenly reached his hand into his pocket and
pulled out the combination knife-and-fork. "That's all I've brought away
of his from Tower Cottage. And I brought it away as much for your sake as
for his. It was during our encounter over this instrument that I first
thought of you as a woman, Mary. And, by Jove, I believe you knew it!"
"Yes, I believe I did," she answered, her eyes set very steadily on his.
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