"No," she said simply.

"Why should I need any proof?
I always knew it." For a moment longer he gazed upon her, then said, "Moira, you are a wonder, lassie.

No, you are a lassie no longer, you are a woman, and, do you know, you are like mother to me now, and I never saw it." She smiled up at him through her tears.

"I should like to be," she said softly.

Then, because she was truly Scotch, she added, "for your sake, for I love you terribly much; and I am going to lose you." A quiver passed through her frame, and her arms gripped him tight.