7How long they stood there Caroline had no idea for she was lost in a rapture beyond anything she had ever known or imagined. The wonder of knowing that Lord Brecon’s arms were round her and the ecstasy of feeling his mouth on hers swept her away in a flood-tide of joy so that she was conscious only of him and the magnetic closeness of him.
After a time the insistent pressure of his lips awoke an answering fire within her so that she no longer lay passive beneath his passion. In a rising crescendo of emotion it seemed to her then that humanity could not know such a thrilling of the senses and not break beneath the strain. At last Lord Brecon raised his head and looked down at her.
“Caroline! Caroline!” he murmured, his voice caught in his throat.
For a long, long moment he looked at the
