Though she had seen these sudden changes in him before, she had never grown wholly used to them. Her deeper nature, with its tranquil brightness, untroubled by passing storms, was unprepared for the shallow violence which swept over him, leaving no visible trace of its passage. No, she could not understand him--she could only hope that after they were married the blindness would pass from her love, and she would attain that completer knowledge for which she was striving so patiently. The transforming miracle of marriage, she trusted, would reveal this mystery, with so many others. "How can you hurt me so, George?" she asked with reproachful tenderness. "It's because you are so stubborn, darling. If you weren't so stubborn I shouldn't do it. Do you know you get almost mulish at times," he added, laughing, while she moved nearer and rubbed her cheek softly against his sleeve. "You frighten me," she whispered. "I was just beginning to believe that you really meant it." "Oh, lovers always quarrel. There's nothing in that." "But I hate to see you angry. It would almost kill me if it lasted longer than a minute. Never let it last, will you, George?" "Of course not, Goosey. It never has lasted, has it?" "Goosey" was one of his favourite names for her. He liked it because it gave him a merry feeling of superiority when he said it, and Gabriella liked it for perhaps the same reason. In the first ardour of her self-surrender she caught eagerly at any straw that she might cast on the flame of her passion. "And I'm not really stubborn, dear. Tell me that I'm not really stubborn." "You darling! I was only teasing you." "I'll do anything on earth for you that I can, George." "I know you will, dearest, and you don't honestly care more for your family, do you?" "I love you better than all the rest of the world put together. There are times when I think it must be wrong to love any man as much as I love you. My grandmother used to say that when you loved like that you 'tempted Providence.' Isn't it dreadful to believe that you could tempt Providence by loving?" He kissed her throat where a loosened strand of dark hair had fallen against the whiteness. "Will you do what I ask, Gabriella?" So it was all to begin over again! He had not really given in, he had not really yielded even while he was kissing her. She closed her eyes, leaning her head on his shoulder. For a moment she felt as if a physical pain were pressing into her forehead.