"Ay lad! It's a year to-day since she came sailing into the bay! Yesterday was the night of the great storm."
He turned to Wyn. "I got a bit upset to-day by some foolish talk that I heard in Stanton about Leon. But I've decided to think no more of it. As soon as I see him I know I should feel ashamed of myself to have thought ill of the lad—God bless him! Now, Mrs. Cranmer, a cup of tea, if you please, for I must be off down to the shore."
Wyn slipped her letter into her pocket, and betook herself to the tea-pot. Her husband hastily got up, leaving his own tea almost untasted, and disappeared into the house to collect himself a little; for he felt as though his meeting with Percivale might be agitating.
CHAPTER LIII.
A lie which is half the truth is even the blackest of lies.
For a lie which is all a lie may be met with and fought outright,
But a lie which is half a truth is a harder matter to fight.
The Grandmother.
An excited crowd had quickly collected on the beach when the news spread like wild-fire through the village that the Swan was sailing into the bay.
The premature arrival of the yacht was almost a disappointment to William Clapp, Joe Battishill and others, who were rigging up a triumphal arch in preparation for the morrow.