She made a strong effort to command her voice, but she had not the courage to look full at him as she answered, "Yes; it is very difficult for me. I want to do right, Mr. Diamond. I want not to deceive you." "I am very sure that you will not deceive me, Rhoda!" "Not if I can help it. But it is so hard to say just the exact truth." "I don't find it hard to say the exact truth to you. You may believe me implicitly, Rhoda, when I say that I love you with all my heart, and will do my best to make you happy if you will let me." "I do believe you. I believe you are really fond of me. Only--of course you are much cleverer and wiser than I am, except in thinking too much of me--and you can say just whatever is in your mind. But I can't; not all at once." "I will wait, Rhoda. I will have patience, and not distress you." The tears were falling down her cheeks now, not from sorrow, but from sheer agitation. She thanked him by a gesture of her head, and drew her hand away from his very gently, and wiped her eyes. He could not command himself at sight of her tears, although he had resolved not to speak again until she should be calm and ready to hear him. "My darling," he said, clasping his hands together and looking at her with eyes full of anxious compassion, "don't cry! Is it my fault? You must have had some knowledge of what was in my heart to say to you! I have not startled you and taken you by surprise?" "No; that's just it, Mr. Diamond. It's that that makes me feel so afraid of doing wrong and deceiving you. I--I--have thought for some time past that you were getting to like me very much. Some one said so too. But yet I couldn't do anything, could I? I couldn't say, 'Don't get fond of me, Mr. Diamond!'" "It would have been quite in vain to say, 'Don't get fond of me.' I'm a desperately obstinate man, Rhoda!" "So then I--I mean to tell you the exact truth, you know, as well as I can. I began to think whether I liked you very much." "Well, Rhoda?" There was a rather long silence. "Well, I thought--yes, I did." He clasped his arms round her with a sudden impetuous movement, but she held him off with her two hands on his shoulders. "No, but please listen! I did love somebody else once very much. Of course we were very young, and it was nonsense. But I did wrong in being secret, and keeping it from father. And I never want to be secret any more. And--though I do like you very much, and--and--I should be very sorry if you went away--yet it isn't quite the same that I felt before. That is the truth as well as I can say it, and I am very grateful to you for thinking so well of me." He drew the young head with its soft shining chestnut curls down on to his breast, and pressed his lips to her cheek. "Now you are mine, my very own--are you not, Rhoda?" "Yes; if you like, Mr. Diamond."