Page 204 (1/2)

Possessed byillusion as to the frailness of

woility, it see so less than partlyher This seems a very extreme

effect to flow from Fyne's words But Anthony, unaccustomed to the

chatter of the firm earth, never stayed to ask himself what value these

words could have in Fyne's mouth And indeed the mere dark sound of them

was utterly abhorrent to his native rectitude, sea-salted, hardened in

the winds of wide horizons, open as the day

He wished to blurt out his indignation but she regarded him with an

expectant air which checked him His visible discomfort made her uneasy

He could only repeat "Oh yes You are perfectly honest You ht At any rate you have never said anything

to me which you didn't mean"

"Never," she whispered after a pause

He see with an emotion she could not understand

because it resembled embarrassment, a state of mind inconceivable in that

that in very truth she

had hardly spoken to hi him the bare outline of her