‘You saved my life,’ she murmured happily. ‘You know what that means?’
Ralph thought of a number of answers, but for some reason held his tongue.
‘It means,’ she said, when he didn’t answer, ‘that I am yours. Mother and father will be so pleased-’
‘What do you mean, “you are mine”?’ Ralph asked her.
‘Why,’ she stammered, ‘I mean that, were you to ask me to marry you, I would readily give you my consent! You have already saved my life! What greater proof could I ask of you?’
‘Nevana,’ he said slowly, trying to think of excuses, though every fibre of his being cried out for him to say “yes” to this incredibly beautiful, alluring young woman, ‘where I come from . . . that is not the sort of reason people get married.’
Undaunted, unsuspecting, all too sure of herself, she said, ‘Well, then, what? Speak plainly! You were ready to take me that day in the woods, so don’t try to tell me that you do not desire me. What more is needed?’
‘Nevana,’ he said, patiently, ‘in my world, two people are drawn together, have physical relations together, and get married, because they fall in love with one another. It is more of an equal partnership- is something wrong?’