[p74]
The moment I suspected she was afraid of the water, I lured her to the landing-stage and engaged a boat.
‘It’s a pity that that large flat one has a leak, otherwise it would have held three nicely; but I dare say we can be comfortable in one of the little ones,’ I said doubtfully.
‘Shan’t we be too heavy for it?’ Mrs. Benedict inquired timidly.
‘Oh, I don’t think so. We’ll get in and try it. If we find it sinks under our weight we won’t risk it,’ I replied, spurred on by such twinkles in Miss Schuyler’s eyes as blinded me to everything else.
‘I really don’t think your aunt would like you to venture, Miss Schuyler,’ said the marplot.
‘Oh, as to that, she knows I am accustomed to boating,’ replied Miss Schuyler.
‘And Miss Schuyler is such an excellent swimmer,’ I added.
Whereupon the marplot and killjoy [p75] remarked that if it were a question of swimming she should prefer to remain at home, as she had large responsibilities devolving upon her, and her life was in a sense not her own to fling away as she might like.
I assured her solemnly that she was quite, quite right, and pushed off before she could change her mind.
After a long interval of silence, Miss Schuyler observed in the voice, accompanied by the smile and the glance of the eye, that ‘did’ for me the moment I was first exposed to them: