.

.

Yes, I do!" He caught her hands away from her face and, their hiding being denied her, she leant her brow against his shoulder.

With that, his arm crept around her waist.
For a while he let her sob out her emotion.

Then, taking her firmly by both wrists, he looked once into her eyes, led her to a seat upon the pebble ridge, and sat himself down beside her.
For a long while they rested there in silence, hand clasped in hand.
The uproar across the river had ceased.