But he was swiftly coming to a conclusion just the same. He was reaching the upshot of response. In five minutes he had the resultant in the homely words of old romance. He loved this girl. He would love her and cherish her till death did them part. No lapse of years, no cancer, no disfigurement would make her less dear.
He was in love and no mistake, and the first thing to do was to lock the lamp-house door.
Chapter 31. Gallium
Next he considered where he should camp. Not on this island, which though dry enough was low and bushy. The Duckling was the proper place. So he plunged into the dripping osiers and made his way to his boat, which he proceeded to overturn and empty of its share in the shower. Then he rowed round to the south and rested on his oars to survey the island that he intended to buy.
But the minute he paused, business gave way to delicious thoughts the like of which he had never known. He had spent a life in training for the sight of her. He must have known all the time that she was there. Just as Mendeleyeff had prophesied an element like boron and an element like aluminum, so he had unconsciously known that there must be a girl as impassioned as Cynthia and as exquisitely self-contained as Gratia. Physically she was like neither, being little and brown and athletic, with eyes that thrilled him, and a short fine nose the pattern of which had never been thought of before. She had beauty and strength and mind and education—though where had she got the education?
Having a tremendous respect for the law of probability, he conceived of her as a farmer’s daughter. But what sort of farmer was it who had sent his daughter far enough from home to learn of atoms and to quote poetry with ease?
Cynthia Flory had known atomizers, for Cynthia used to spray her throat with antiseptics and her hair with synthetic jasmine, but of atoms Cynthia was flagrantly ignorant. And so was the sweet cool Gratia. Nor could either of them weave the poets into her common talk as easily as a bird weaves silken threads into its nest, though Cynthia sometimes tried it.
Thank God, the new love was poor and proud. Nobody could accuse him of marrying for money. And now that he thought of it, there was a possibility that the rock he sought might be owned by her father. She must live not far away, or she would not be carrying a key to the lamp-house. The darling—to stand by the United States government in case a light should fail the ships! If the old man did own the Duckling, he should have ten thousand for it.
How long would it take him to win her? She was saucy; she had a prejudice against the rich; she pretended to be willing to charge him eighty cents a pound for perch; and for some strange reason she had thrown away her expensive sweater as if it burned her. All this added piquancy to the situation, but when she knew that he was in earnest, she would melt. She might not exactly melt in his hand, as the metal gallium melts, but she would yield. He could not conceive it otherwise.
So he mused, drifting on the turquoise stream, and finally remembered whither he was bound. He lifted his eyes and looked at the beautiful object that his father would some day sell to be shattered.