Kathleen's look of sympathy was carrying Captain Jack beyond himself. He was beginning to venture on ground which he had hardly dared to believe he should be able to approach for months to come, for he was far too politic to risk a refusal by haste or rashness.
How far he might have gone, tempted by Kathleen's readiness to talk of Ralph, and her evident sympathy with the father's anxiety, cannot be told. At this most opportune moment Aylmer Matheson came in sight, as he turned a corner only a short distance in front of the pair. He had been at the Hall, and was going homeward, having declined Mrs. Ellicott's invitation to luncheon.
Captain Torrance was inwardly delighted at the meeting, and not in the least sorry that his conversation with Kathleen was interrupted at this point. He was becoming afraid that he had gone too far already, and that his impetuosity might have the effect of injuring his cause. Now he should stop, leaving Kathleen plenty to think about, and perhaps wishing the sentence had been completed before Aylmer appeared in sight. She could not doubt his earnestness, for he meant every word he had said.
Captain Jack changed the subject abruptly, and said—
"Some day I shall hope to talk about my boy again, with one who can sympathize with a motherless child, and with a father who longs to care for him in the best way. But here comes your lawful guardian, Miss Mountford; perhaps I had better retreat and resign you to his care."
There was just a suspicion of mockery in Captain Jack's tone, and his smile was less pleasant to look upon than it had been before Aylmer came in sight.
Tone and look had the effect of rousing Kathleen to show her independence, and she answered—
"Indeed no, Captain Torrance. You were good enough to say you would walk with me to the Hall, and your escort will be more than sufficient, for I expected that my walk would be solitary. Mr. Matheson is my guardian and my good, true friend, not my jailer."
The captain laughed heartily at this speech, and said some complimentary words at the moment of Aylmer's approach, with the result that Kathleen's face was full of amusement, and her heightened colour could not fail to be noticed by her guardian.
Aylmer was intensely surprised at seeing Captain Torrance in Kathleen's company, and at the apparently good understanding subsisting between them.