Wouldn't he tell her now?
She would so like to know.

Would nothing induce him?
Yes, there was something.

Nay, what harm! Only an honest lover's kiss, among the ripening grapes.

In the dark, you say.

My dear madam, you would not have them kiss one another in broad day, with the cook watching them out of the kitchen window?
"Alice," he said, "I have had one object before me from my boyhood, and since you told me that I was to be your husband, that object has grown from a vague intention to a fixed purpose.