.

"'What _is_ your name?' I asked.

"He hesitated.

"I lifted my face till my cheek just touched his. I persisted, with my
lips close at his ear:

"'What, no confidence in me even yet! No confidence in the woman who
has almost confessed she loves you--who has almost consented to be your
wife!'

"He turned his face to mine. For the second time he tried to kiss me,
and for the second time I stopped him.

"'If I tell you my name,' he said, 'I must tell you more.'

"I let my cheek touch his again.

"'Why not?' I said. 'How can I love a man--much less marry him--if he
keeps himself a stranger to me?'

"There was no answering that, as I thought. But he did answer it.

"'It is a dreadful story,' he said. 'It may darken all your life, if you
know it, as it has darkened mine.'

"I put my other arm round him, and persisted. 'Tell it me; I'm not
afraid; tell it me.'

"He began to yield to my other arm.

"'Will you keep it a sacred secret?' he said. 'Never to be
breathed--never to be known but to you and me?'

"I promised him it should be a secret. I waited in a perfect frenzy of
expectation. Twice he tried to begin, and twice his courage failed him.

"'I can't!' he broke out in a wild, helpless way. 'I can't tell it!'

"My curiosity, or more likely my temper, got beyond all control. He had
irritated me till I was reckless what I said or what I did. I suddenly
clasped him close, and pressed my lips to his. 'I love you!' I whispered
in a kiss. '_Now_ will you tell me?'

"For the moment he was speechless. I don't know whether I did it
purposely to drive him wild. I don't know whether I did it involuntarily
in a burst of rage. Nothing is certain but that I interpreted his
silence the wrong way. I pushed him back from me in a fury the instant
after I had kissed him. 'I hate you!' I said. 'You have maddened me into
forgetting myself. Leave me. I don't care for the darkness. Leave me
instantly, and never see me again!'

"He caught me by the hand and stopped me. He spoke in a new voice; he
suddenly _commanded_, as only men can.

"'Sit down,' he said. 'You have given me back my courage--you shall know
who I am.'

"In the silence and the darkness all round us, I obeyed him, and sat
down.

"In the silence and the darkness all round us, he took me in his arms
again, and told me who he was."

----------

"Shall I trust you with his story? Shall I tell you his real name? Shall
I show you, as I threatened, the th