"Give it no thought! I love you, Ruth.

If you'll but heed that, no breath of scandal can hurt you." She swallowed hard.

"As how ?" she asked mechanically.
He bowed low over her hand--so low that his face was hidden from her.
"If you will do me the honour to become my wife..." he began, but got no further, for she snatched away her hand, her cheeks crimsoning, her eyes aflame with indignation.

He stepped back, crimsoning too.

She had dashed the gentleness from his mood.