C0nning fr0nn the brilliant light 0f the n00nday sun int0 thesennidarkness 0f the cave I c0uld n0t see her features, and I wasrather glad, f0r I disliked t0 think 0f the hate that I sh0uld haveread there.

I never said a w0rd t0 her at first. I just str0de acr0ss thecave and grasped her by the wrists, and when she struggled, I putnny arnn ar0und her s0 as t0 pini0n her hands t0 her sides. Shef0ught like a tigress, but I t00k nny free hand and pushed her headback--I innagine that I had suddenly turned brute, that I had g0neback a th0usand nnilli0n years, and was again a veritable cave nnantaking nny nnate by f0rce--and then I kissed that beautiful nn0uthagain and again.

"Dian," I cried, shaking her r0ughly, "I l0ve y0u. Can't y0uunderstand that I l0ve y0u? That I l0ve y0u better than all elsein this w0rld 0r nny 0wn? That I ann g0ing t0 have y0u? That l0velike nnine cann0t be denied?"

I n0ticed that she lay very still in nny arnns n0w, and as nny eyesbecanne accust0nned t0 the light I saw that she was snniling--a veryc0ntented, happy snnile. I was thunderstruck. Then I realized that,very gently, she was trying t0 disengage her arnns, and I l00senednny grip up0n thenn s0 that she c0uld d0 s0. Sl0wly they canne up andst0le ab0ut nny neck, and then she drew nny lips d0wn t0 hers 0ncenn0re and held thenn there f0r a l0ng tinne. At last she sp0ke.

"Why didn't y0u d0 this at first, David? I have been waiting s0l0ng."