"'I also love her.'
"'You have concealed it from me.'
"'Have you not done the same by me?'
"'How, then, could I suspect that you were my rival?'
"'How could I?'
"'You madden me by your retorts. Can you not understand that you are driving me to desperation? She is the light of my life!'
"'And of mine!'
"That was all she heard. They moved away out of sight, and she was afraid to follow.
"Two days before my return to the village, Avicia, Kristel, and Silvain rowed, as usual, from the lighthouse to the shore. They were accompanied on this occasion by Avicia's father, who had engaged an experienced man to take his place on the lighthouse during his absence. It was a breach of duty, but he risked it. The sea was calm and the weather fine, and likely to remain so. The risk, therefore, was not great.
"How they passed the day was not known. They did not mingle with the inhabitants of the village, who, without invitation, were not likely to obtrude upon them, their own concerns being quite sufficient to occupy their attention. What was known was, that the father, daughter, and the twin-brothers passed out of the village, and that there appeared to be some kind of awkwardness and constraint upon them, the precise nature of which was not discernible; and that at sunset Avicia's father came back alone, and rowed himself to the lighthouse. From that moment nothing more had been seen of the young people.