“I——” David cleared his throat—“I am so glad you can tell me, Gay,” he said, a little gruffly.
“I love to tell you!” the girl said, with an illuminated look.
“It—is settled, Gabrielle?”
“No. Not exactly. That is——” She coloured violently, laughed, and grew suddenly pale. “No, it’s not settled,” she answered, confusedly.
“You can’t tell me anything more?” David asked, after a pause.
“Not—now, very well. At least, I think I can soon,” Gay said, laughing and flushed, yet oddly near, he could see, to tears, too. “I know that he—cares for me,” she added, after another brief silence.
“He has told you?”
“Well, no. Or yes, he has, too—in a way. But all that——” she broke off, appealingly.
“Yes, I know,” David reassured her. “You shall tell me when you’re ready.”
“David, I suppose we should be going back,” the girl said, reluctantly. But she did not change her comfortable position, resting against the dial, and looking alternately at its blackened old stone surface and across the shining sea.