"I shouldn't. Think of what it brings."
"I do; begging letters, impostures, battle-scarred titles, humbugging shop-keepers, and perhaps one honest friend in a thousand. And if I married a title, what equivalent would I get for my money, to put it brutally? A chateau, which I should have to patch up, and tolerance from my husband's noble friends. Not an engaging prospect."
She threw a handful of biscuit to the gulls, and there was fighting and screaming almost in touch of the hands. Then of a sudden the red rim of the sun vanished behind the settling landscape, and all the grim loneliness of the sea rose up to greet them.
"It is lonely; let us go and prepare for dinner. Look!" pointing to a bright star far down the east. "And Corsica lies that way."
"And also madness!" was his thought.
"Oh, it seems not quite true that we are all going a-venturing as they do in the story-books. The others think we are just going to Funchal. Remember, you must not tell. Think of it; a real treasure, every franc of which must tell a story of its own; love, heroism and devotion."
"Beautiful! But there must be a rescuing of princesses and fighting and all that. I choose the part of remaining by the princess."
"It is yours." She tilted back her head and breathed and breathed.
She knew the love of living.
"Lucky we are all good sailors," he said. "There will be a fair sea on all night. But how well she rides!"
"I love every beam and bolt of her."