"All right," she said. "That's a bargain."
Durland felt flooded with joy--not only at having saved a beloved woman but at having done it in just the right way. He picked up the package of cigarettes and flung it toward the sea. It did not quite reach the water and Caroline sprang up and brought it back to him.
"I suppose you thought that was empty," she said.
He tossed it away again without thanking her, but at last to her repeated clamors he yielded the information that he had given up smoking.
"Oh, Durland," she said, "now you can come to the house again. Is that why you did it?"
He did not want to deceive the girl, but he could not resist the temptation of allowing her to deceive herself. He did not answer directly; but rising, he said, "Anyone who wishes to swim to the barrels with me may now do so."
It was more like an invitation than anything he had said all morning, and they were soon swimming side by side.
Presently Mrs. Conway in a dark-blue silk bathing dress with ruffles appeared and dropped a string of pearls into the lap of the governess as if they had been beads. Pearl had never had such pearls in her hands before. They were heavier--much heavier than she had imagined, and brighter, more iridescent,