"If my judgment is not at fault, and I am sure Marie's friendship confirms my opinion, there could not have been a better choice made by her."
"Thank you," she said, blushing at the unreserved expression of his approval, while she laughed to hide the embarrassment his words caused.
He also burst out laughing, and said, "Pardon me, Miss Gaston, but I do not feel as if I had not known you for a long time. The climb we had together and your purpose in regard to my friends here have made me feel well towards you, and are accountable for my plain statement of our position. We have these things in common, and from them springs a mutual interest."
So they came to an understanding, and yet each formed erroneous ideas of the other, whose result would be felt seriously by both for years of their life.
"Our friends are on the beach, I observe, waiting for me at the ford. I do not think they know that you have returned," she said.
Their appearance was the signal for the waving of handkerchiefs and the exchange of merry greetings.
"We have been expecting you, Mr. Winslow," said Mrs. Forest, after an exchange of courtesies.
"I was longer on Blomidon than I expected to be. I did not think to find you here so soon."
"We had all these lovely places in anticipation, you know, and we had exhausted Blomidon and completed our geological investigations," continued her daughter, with a smile. "This field presented a greater range for our work, and permits mother to have a sharper eye upon me. She has not gotten over her fear of the tide. Yet we have found all the zeolites, and the combinations of them,--stilbite, acadialite, flybites and skylights, and I don't know how many tights."
Their merry laughter echoed along the cliffs after this speech.
"I see you have been making a careful study of the subject, and have not lost much time," said Winslow, laughing.
"My dear, there is another bite you have forgotten to mention. I found a good specimen this morning, you know," said Mrs. Forest.
"When may we see you?" she said to Winslow, as he raised his cap, about to leave them. "We are easily found."
"We inhabitants of Pierre Island time our going and coming by the tide."
Events were making history in the life of Marie, the child-woman, the woman-child. When Winslow reached Bluff Castle he was surprised to meet Len, who strode past him without a word, his face pale with rage, and a savage look in his eyes. Entering the house, he found Marie in tears and Suzanne absent. Seeing him, she withdrew into another room, leaving him to conjecture as to the cause of her emotion. He suspected that Len had found her alone and had continued to force his unpleasant and jealous humor upon her after his protracted absence. He had lost no time, as the occasion showed.