'You are crying,' he said.
'No, I'm not,' said Mary, looking up now.
There was a strange light in her face that made Rob shake. He was so near her that his hands touched her jacket. At that moment there was a sound of feet on the plank that communicated between the Tawny Owl and the island, and Dick called out—
'You people up there, are you coming once round the island before you have something to eat?'
Rob muttered a reply that Dick fortunately did not catch, but Mary answered 'Yes,' and they descended the ladder.
'You had better put a shawl over your shoulders,' said Rob, in rather a lordly tone.
'No,' Mary answered, thrusting away the shawl he produced from the saloon; 'a wrap on a night like this would be absurd.'
Something caught in her throat at that moment, and she coughed. Rob looked at her anxiously.
'You had better,' he said, putting the shawl over her shoulders.
'No,' said Mary, flinging it off.