“A girl I know said once that my whistling was only whistling for a lover. You don’t think that, do you?”

“Good God! I should think not! Your whistling’s a wonderful thing. It’s your genius. It’s your way of expressing what we all want to express.”

“What do we all want to express?”

He chuckled right out at this, and, forgetting all vows and pledges, flung his arms round her shoulders and hugged her tightly to his heart. “Oh, Gerda, Gerda!” he cried breathlessly, as he let her go, “you’ll be soon making me so damnably fond of you, that I’ll be completely at your mercy!”

“But what do we all want to express?” she repeated.

He felt such a rush of happiness at the change in her voice that he could only answer at random.