Mr Gold half smiled at her response. Her faith in him made him want to be a better man, or at least more of a man than he had been when she first met him. She was the best deal he ever made, she had given him more than he ever could of imagined and he wanted to tell her that, but he didn't know how to phrase it properly, how to explain what he felt without making her feel like a possession, when she was so much more than that.
"Thank you Belle...and it's OK." He squeezed her hand. "It's mostly an affectation anyway."