"So it is true!" she said, nodding her head, "it is true, father and I
are in peril, after all! Names escaped you just now, I think I have
heard one of them before--"
She passed her hand over her brow, like some one awaking from sleep, and
I watched her, fascinated.
Oh, how lovely she was at that moment, my dear, my perfect dear!
"But, _caro_, _of course_ I cannot run away with you and be married. _I
must_ stay with father, cannot you see that?"
Well, of course I did, there were no two words about it. "Very well," I
answered, "Little Lady of my heart, I'll stick by the old chap too. I've
crept up here in a sort of underhand way, but not for underhand reasons.
After all, I've just as much right to love you as anybody else in this
world."