“What did he tell her about that?” asked he quickly.
“Ah!” said the vicar, with meaning. “Then it had something to do with that, eh?”
“Surely, surely, sir, Joan has too much sense, too much generosity, to be angry with me for showing kindness towards a dying woman!” cried the young man, with fire.
“Nay,” said the parson, “I know not. A lass is a strange creature: how far did thy kindness go, Harry?”
Tregenna frowned. It flashed across his mind now that perhaps one of the smugglers’ boats had been hovering about the cutter at the time of Ann’s death, unnoticed in the excitement and commotion caused by the return of the boats’ crews and the capture of a prisoner. If this were so, and if Gardener Tom had been one of the occupants, it was very possible that he had seen the kiss Tregenna had given the dying woman, and that he had recounted the incidents of that passionate farewell of hers to Joan.
Since Tom was jealous himself, it was not likely that he would let the story lose in the telling. This seemed the only possible explanation of Joan’s strange flight, and it was a most disquieting one.
“’Tis true I did kiss her, sir, at her request,” said Tregenna, after a short pause. “But there was never a kiss given in this world that was less cause for jealousy!”
“Well, I believe you, Harry, for I know you to be most truly attached to my daughter. But whether she will believe, is another question. A woman looks not at these things with a man’s eyes, nor does she listen to the recital of them with a man’s ears.”
“Sir,” said Tregenna, proudly, “I hope she will come round to a sensible state within a few days, and send me some message to say so. For otherwise I will not humble myself to write and demand one. I could not trust the discretion of a woman who would show so little confidence in her lover!”
“Nay, let not your spirit carry you too far, or maybe you’ll lose her altogether!” said the vicar. “And I would not have that; for though I would fain have kept my daughter with me a little longer, had it been possible, I should not hope to find for her an honester man than I believe you to be!”