"We also regret it. The people staying at the hotel are hoping to arrange for an excursion to Grand-Pré, and Mrs. Forest told me she hoped it would come off before you went away."
Marie was with them, and they wandered towards the Blue Vein, enjoying to the fullest extent the lovely day and the soft breeze from the outgoing tide. They had turned among the huge masses of rock at the rear of the island. Marie, silent as was her wont while in the presence of Winslow, moved along with them, or stopped to examine some object that caught her attention as they walked. She had dropped behind them now, and Miss Gaston, turning to him, said:
"Now that it is all arranged for Marie to make her home with us, I am sure that you will do your duty by her and come to see her often. It will be a guarantee that you shall not neglect your other friends, for the Forests are often with us."
"I must go to Marie's home to see you," said Winslow, turning upon her with a strange look in his eyes, and a deeper and lower tone in his voice. "Miss Gaston, as I leave here so soon I esteem this opportunity a great privilege."
She started as if she had received a blow, and in an instant she realized the meaning of the situation. A painful light broke in upon her. She feared to let him go on and she hesitated before she should fully understand him. But there was no mistaking his voice and the look on his face. The strong man's soul was on his lips, and the influence of his strength was on her heart and moved her beyond the possibility of a doubt.
"Oh, Mr. Winslow," she cried, in a voice full of pain, "I fear I have been terribly mistaken. And I fear I have unwittingly deceived you."
"Then do not let us misunderstand each other any longer, Miss Gaston. I must tell you that I hoped much from this friendship, so suddenly—and I thought so happily—come to us. Do not, I beg of you, mistake my interest in Marie, and my affection for her father."
"Forgive me, Mr. Winslow," she said, with tears in her eyes, "this is a sadness for me. I was surely, surely blind."
Winslow looked at her long with pale face, and saw that to say more was to add still greater pain to her grief. He realized his position, and with effort kept himself in hand.
"Pardon me if I return," he said, hurriedly, as he heard Marie's steps approaching them again. He turned away, and caught for an instant the full look of Marie's eyes as he hurried past her. In another instant he was out of sight, and the two women met. Marie saw the tears and agitation of Miss Gaston, and as she came near her friend she was clasped in a moment about the neck, and found her own tears falling, called forth by the silent grief of the older woman.