He laughs no, and again renews his petition to be taken in, to which she assents, carelessly.
"I did not know you could manage a boat," he observes, as with a skillful sweep of the oars she turns the little craft forward, dancing lightly on the crest of the waves.
"Did you not? Well, that is not strange, seeing how little you know of me anyway. I am a good swimmer, too. You would not have guessed that?" she says, lightly.
"No, and yet it is a knowledge all women should possess," he returns. "Where have you learned these things?"
"My father taught me. He wanted me to be thorough in such things as well as in more lady-like accomplishments."
"He must have been a sensible man," Mr. Charteris comments to himself, and then there is a silence broken only by the soft, steady splash of the oars in the water. An embarrassing consciousness has fallen over both. Vane is thinking to himself that after all there may be some excuse for the brusquerie and wildness of the little savage, as he sometimes unkindly termed her in his thoughts. He remembers what Maud had told him of her tuition under her father. Masculine training would be apt to give her that touch of wildness.
She in her turn studies him shyly, but intently. She sees the haggard impress of the sleepless night on the pale, handsome face, and about the dark-blue eyes, with their slight heaviness and the faint blue circles around them. Impulsively she speaks:
"You have thought the matter well over. You will forego your revenge and save Maud?"
"Why should you think so? What sign have I given of yielding?" he asks, curiously.