‘“What are you kids making such an infernal racket about?”’
She shut her eyes.
‘Aunt Hazel, Dad, just think. He was my first love. His picture was at that moment in a locket around my neck. And he called me a kid!’
‘And you’ve never seen him since?’ Miss Hazel’s smile expressed amused indulgence.
Constance shook her head.
‘He’s always been away when I’ve visited Nan—and for six years I’ve been waiting.’ She straightened up with an air of determination. ‘But now, if he’s on the continent of Europe, I’ll get him!’
‘And what shall you do with him?’ her father mildly inquired.
‘Do with him? I’ll make him take it back; I’ll make him eat that word kid!’
‘H’m!’ said her father. ‘I hope you’ll get him; he might act as an antidote to some of these officers.’
They had run in under the shadow of the mountain and the keel grated on the shore. Constance raised her eyes and studied the towering crag above their heads; when she lowered them again, her gaze for an instant met Tony’s. There was a new light in his eyes—amusement, triumph, something entirely baffling. He gave her the intangible feeling of having at last got the mastery of the situation.