The look of childish perplexity did not leave her face; the gravity of her beautiful eyes deepened. "I have no wish to be cruel," she said; "I only desire to say what is true." "Then just listen to your own heart, and you will soon know whether you love me or not. Are you pleased to see me? Do you look forward to meeting me? Do you think of me when I am not with you?" "Yes," she replied calmly; "I look with eagerness to the time when I know you are coming; I think of you very often all day, and I--I dream of you all night. In my mind every word that you have ever said to me remains." "Then you love me," he cried, clasping her little white hands in his, his handsome face growing brighter and more eager--"you love me, my darling, and you must be my wife!" She did not shrink from him; the words evidently had little meaning for her. He must have been blind indeed not to see the girl's heart was as void and innocent of all love as the heart of a dreaming child. "You must be my wife," he repeated. "I love you better than anything else in the wide world." She did not look particularly happy or delighted. "You shall go away from this dull gloomy spot," he said; "I will take you to some sunny, far-off city, where the hours have golden wings and are like minutes--where every breath of wind is a fragrant sigh--where the air is filled with music, and the speech of the people is song. You will behold the grandest pictures, the finest statues, the noblest edifices in the world. You shall not know night from day, nor summer from winter, because everything shall be so happy for you." The indifference and weariness fell from her face as a mask. She clasped her hands in triumph, her eyes brightened, her beautiful face beamed with joy. "Oh, Claude, that will be delightful! When shall it be?" "So soon as you are my wife, sweet. Do you not long to come with me and be dressed like a lovely young queen, in flowers, and go to balls that will make you think of fairyland? You shall go to the opera to hear the world's greatest singers; you shall never complain of dulness or weariness again." The expression of happiness that came over her face was wonderful to see.