He grimaced his astonishment at the smallness of the request What was she after?
“I’ll bathe,” he consented, “if you’ll come with me. But aren’t you hungry?”
“Not a bit I breakfasted late.”
“I didn’t.”
“Well, if you’ll wash first, I’ll let you feed after.”
“I—” he hesitated, “I don’t want to leave you.”
“But I’m keen to see you bathe,” she insisted childishly. Then, employing her most winning manner, “I’ll sit here on the beach and watch you.”
He made a last effort to tempt her. “D’you remember the pool in the woodland—the place where we camped? You thought it would make you a boy. Perhaps, if you tried now——”
“Nonsense.” She shook her head determinedly and sat down.
The situation was too absurd to argue over. Before he left, he gave his watch and money into her keeping. He derived a queer sensation from seeing her pop them into her vanity-case. That was just the matter-of-fact way in which she’d do it if they were married.