As she had perfect command of herself, and as he was simply dumb with love--shy, too, and full of fears at putting his fate to the touch too soon--he had not been able to speak his heart out and ask her "punctilió"--a favorite word of his mother's--if she would marry him in the autumn. He had awakened every morning determined to do it, and he had gone to bed every night without having succeeded. He assured himself that he had made some little headway on certain occasions that he recalled with burning cheeks in the solitude of his own room. He had held her hand for several minutes once when they were sitting under the pines on the river bank, but his enjoyment had been sadly incomplete, because he had been terror-stricken every second for fear she would take it away. He had been obliged to make the move himself finally because of the arrival of a large picnic party, the members of which he still regarded with fierce animosity. Then--oh, never-to-be-forgotten moment of supreme bliss!--with a courage born of despair he had kissed her on Mrs. Wilkins's steps after Wednesday evening prayer-meeting. If she had not returned the caress as fully as he could have wished, at least she had not withdrawn herself in anger. It was at that moment that, made more daring by the remembrance that she was leaving the village for her vacation, he pleaded: "Undine, haven't I waited long enough for an answer? I can't expect you to love me as I love you, but just give me a word to live on till you come back!" "I don't hardly know what to say," she murmured, reaching up to see if she had lost her pearl earring. "I like you better than anybody I've ever seen, but I wish you'd let me think it over these next two months. I'm not sure I'm fitted to be a farmer's wife. I've never done any housework, you know, Matthew." Oh! how fragile, how plaintive, how in need of all a man's strength she looked in the moonlight! "Why, Undine, do you s'pose I'd let you spoil your pretty hands with rough work? I'll always be there to stand between you and the hard parts, and you shall have a hired girl to wait on you every minute of the day. Besides, you don't know the improvements I'm going to make in my premises. The house is going to beat anything there is in Riverboro or Edgewood. While I'm gettin' ready for you, Undine, won't you be gettin' ready for me?" "You domineering man, you!" she whispered, playing with the lapels of his coat, "teasing me into saying 'yes' against my will! I suppose you must go ahead with your improvements and let me see them when I come back. I am sure it'll be all right!" "Seal your promise with a kiss?" Matthew whispered, and it is difficult to see how Undine could have evaded the direct issue, even had she wished, had not Mrs. Wilkins, opening a window, called out, "The door-key is under the rug, Undine."