"Never mind about that just now," he said; "but do you think--" he sat down near me as he spoke, and looked me in the face. "Do you think you could bring yourself to do one last thing for me?" "It won't be a last thing," I answered, "it will be the first of many; I will do everything for you; I will marry you." "It is not such a big thing as that," he replied; "but it is a big thing, at least a very big thing to me. It is something that I shall prize all my life. I took you in my arms just now and kissed you--will you kiss me just once of your own accord?" I did not hesitate; I raised my lips and pressed a kiss on his cheek. He looked at me very mournfully and quietly. "Thank you," he said, "I shall always have this to make a better man of me." "But I am going to be yours; you won't cast me off," I pleaded; "I said I would marry you on the 1st of June next year, and I will." "But I would rather not, my little girl. The fact is this, Westenra, I would not marry you now at any price. I would have married you had I thought I could have won you in the end, but I won't have a wife who loves another. I could not do it on any terms, Westenra. I am low down enough, but I am not as low as that. So I refuse you, dear; I give you up--you understand, don't you?" I did understand. A wild wave of joy, almost intolerable, surged round my heart, and the next moment Mr. Fanning took my hand and led me out of the arbour just where the moon was shining. "I asked Mr. Randolph to come down," he said quietly, "I guessed that perhaps he would be wanted. I think this is he." Footsteps were heard approaching, and Jim Randolph stood in the moonlit path. "How do you do, Mr. Randolph?" said Albert Fanning, with that new dignity which self-denial gave him. He looked almost grand at the moment. "I have just been telling this young girl, Mr. Randolph, that I have heard a certain secret about her which she was bravely trying to keep to herself, and in consequence of that secret I can have nothing more to do with her. She wanted to marry me, sir, but I have refused her; she is quite free, free for any one else to woo and win. She is a very good girl, sir, and--but that is all, I have nothing more to say. I have given her back her bond." And then without a word, Albert Fanning walked quickly away through the gloom of the shrubbery, and Jim and I found ourselves alone face to face with the moonlight shining on us both. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Plucky Girl, by L. T. Meade