“The ground’s awkward; but perhaps the portrait makes things plainer.”
Mrs. Austin studied the picture. The girl was beautiful and somehow thoroughbred. To contrast her and Alison was perhaps ridiculous. For one thing, Alison was not beautiful; yet she had a charm the other had not.
“I think I see! You are going to marry the English girl?”
“If I make good—Alison knows,” Kit replied. “I feel I must make good. When others doubted and all was dark, Evelyn trusted me. I expect you know why I lost my English post?”
Mrs. Austin gave him back the portrait and her look was kind.
“Yes. Bob thinks you did not tell him all, and the shipyard chief did not spot the proper man.”
“I felt I ought to satisfy you,” said Kit with an apologetic smile. “You have helped Alison and I owe Bob much. In fact, now I think about it, when we met you at Winnipeg our luck began to turn. Well, I suppose you imagined—I don’t know about Alison, but I was embarrassed.”
“In some circumstances a girl is less embarrassed than a man. I rather think Alison saw why we tried to encourage you.”
Kit said nothing, and Mrs. Austin resumed: “Well, I admit I was romantically sympathetic. I had not long before promised to marry Bob.”
“Then I suppose Bob was at Toronto? Toronto’s your home town?”