"In a way, yes. But--shall I be honest? I felt, too, as if, somehow,
it wasn't quite right; so much--what shall I call it?"

"So much of old Adam and the Garden? Sit down here for a moment, will
you?"

She trembled a little, and sat.

"I want to speak plainly and honestly to you," he said, looking earnestly
at her. "You know my history--about my wife who died in Labrador, and
all the rest?"

"Yes, they have told me."

"Well, I have nothing to hide, I think; nothing more that you ought to
know: though I've been a scamp one way and another."

"'That I ought to know'?" she repeated.

"Yes: for when a man asks a woman to be his wife, he should be prepared
to open the cupboard of skeletons." She was silent; her heart was
beating so hard that it hurt her.

"I am going to ask you to be my wife, Delia."

She was silent, and sat motionless, her hands clasped in her lap.

He went on

"I don't know that you will be wise to accept me, but if you will take