"
"Richard, Richard!" and Edith nearly screamed as she flew across
the floor. Lifting up his head she pillowed it upon her bosom, and
showering kisses upon his quivering lips, said to him, "Tell me--
tell me, am _I_ that Swedish baby, _I_ that Eloise Temple?"
He nodded in reply, and Edith continued: "the child for whose sake
you were made blind! Why have you not told me before? I could not
then have wounded you so cruelly. How can I show my gratitude? I
am not worthy of you, Richard; not worthy to bear your name, much
less to be your bride, but such as I am take me. I cannot longer
refuse. Will you, Richard? May I be your wife?"
She knelt before HIM now; hers was the supplicating posture, and
when he shook his head, she continued,
"You think it a sudden change, and so it is, but I mean it. I'm in
earnest, I do love you, dearly, oh, so dearly, and by and by I
shall love you a great deal more. Answer me--may I be your wife?"
It was a terrible temptation, and Richard Harrington reeled from
side to side like a broken reed, while his lips vainly essayed to
speak the words his generous nature bade them speak.
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