"I'm sorry, Ted. I didn't mean to be rude, or imply anything when I said that."
"I wasn't silent because you said that," I murmured. "I was just thinking how different Deep Harbor seems to me now."
"Were you very bored when you first came?"
"Perhaps," I said, "or lonely—I don't know which. Yes, I did find this a lonely place."
"It needn't have been. You could have met plenty of nice people, if you had taken a little trouble."
"It sounds frightfully foolish—in fact, I know it doesn't sound remotely plausible—I didn't know there were any nice people here."
Helen's eyes were upon me in open astonishment, then she broke into one of her merry laughs.
"You thought you were marooned among barbarians, I suppose. How masculine and English, both together! The combination would be disastrous anywhere."
"I don't know," I protested. "I didn't get started, that's all. I had a lot to do out at the factory."
"Ted, don't lose your temper when you're teased. It's not good sporting spirit."