If I see the scarf, Diane and I will
ride out."
"That's fine. Sally, you have ideas in your pretty little head. And once
I thought it held nothing but--" She put a hand on my mouth. "I must go
now," she said and rose. She stood close to me and put her arms around
my neck. "One thing more, Russ. It--it was dif--difficult telling Diane
we--we were engaged. I lied to Uncle. But what else could I have told
Diane? I--I--Oh--was it--" She faltered.
"Sally, you lied to Sampson to save me. But you must have accepted me
before you could have told Diane the truth."
"Oh, Russ, I had--in my heart! But it has been some time since you asked
me--and--and--"
"You imagined my offer might have been withdrawn. Well, it stands."
She slipped closer to me then, with that soft sinuousness of a woman,
and I believed she might have kissed me had I not held back, toying with
my happiness.
"Sally, do you love me?"
"Ever so much. Since the very first."
"I'm a marshal, a Ranger like Steele, a hunter of criminals. It's a hard
life. There's spilling of blood. And any time I--I might--All the same,
Sally--will you be my wife?"
"Oh, Russ! Yes. But let me tell you when your duty's done here that I
will have a word to say about your future.
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