"Let me take you for a pull on the river," he had said. "I have never done anything for you in my life, and my arms just ache to be used in your service. Oh Mona, Mona, Mona! it seems too good to be possible that you are still the same simple, true-hearted girl that I knew at Castle Maclean. By the way, do you know that Castle Maclean is yours for life now? At least Carlton Lodge is, and only the sea-gulls are likely to dispute my princess's claim to her battlements."
He handed her into a boat, and rowed out into the middle of the river.
"Now," he said, "you shall see what your slave's muscles are worth."
Like an arrow the little boat shot through the water in the sunshine, and Mona laughed with delight at the exhilaration of the swift rushing movement.
"That will do, Dr Dudley," she said at last. "Don't kill yourself."
"I don't answer to the name," he said shortly, pulling harder than ever.
"Oh, do please stop!" she cried.
"Who is to stop?" he panted, determined not to give in.
There was a moment's pause. A deep rosy colour settled on her eager face.
"Ralph," she said, scarcely above a whisper.