they ran into the broader stretches the spray flecked their faces.
Valerie drew the fresh air into her lungs and felt relaxed. She was interested in seeing a part of the river she had not yet observed. With delight she watched Dane who always took a keen pleasure in getting what he could out of his engine, and who loved this inanimate thing of his that had brought him so much enjoyment. At intervals he turned and smiled at her, and she began to anticipate the evening and the charm of his old house. She was a little surprised to find he was going a good way down the river, and then that later on he headed the launch into a small sheltered bay with scattered bush about it.
“I thought it would be nice if we had a fire and a picnic here,” he said. “I brought food. We may have another shower, but a little damp won’t hurt you, will it?”
“Oh dear, no,” and she entered into the spirit of it willingly enough, though she had a vague feeling that she was being managed to some end.
The night came upon them before they had finished their meal. Dane piled driftwood upon the fire. They sat side by side to smoke with their arms about each other. They both knew they were shelving the subject they most wanted to talk about. And they were both irritated to think they would not have real peace again with each other till they had talked it out. A shower drove them to cover. But he did not suggest the cabin of the Diana, the one place where they would have kept dry. He drew her under a puriri tree, and they stood close together trying to avoid the drops. She began to see that he had no intention of taking her home with him that night.
“Well,” he began abruptly as they stood lit up occasionally by the sputtering flames of the fire, “have you thought about marrying me?”
