here was hidden a real
diplomatist. By trumpeting about the town the service which Elizabeth
had rendered them in saving the Juno, he had, one may say, forced his
family to take her up, though to them he made it appear that public
opinion left them no alternative. On the other hand, he was uncommonly
cautious in his attitude towards Elizabeth herself; for he knew he must
win her without attracting the attention of his stepmother and sisters.
He believed he had made a sort of impression upon her; but at the same
time he felt that he had a wild swan to deal with, that might at any
moment spread its wings and fly away--there was such a strong,
independent individuality about her.

In his home, however, she had become a different creature, scarcely to
be recognised as the same Elizabeth,--so quietly did she go about,
hardly conscious of his presence apparently--and so slavishly did she
follow the directions of the mistress of the house. This new aspect of
her had put him in doubt for a while, but it was not very long before he
satisfied himself that he understood what it meant; and that little
affair with the tea-tray, that was set down to awkwardness by the
others, had quite a different significance for him. He flattered himself
that she subjected herself to all this restraint for his sake; and
whatever the _denouement_ might be, the situation was, at all events, an
interesting one.

But there was, on the other hand, something in her manner that kept him
at a certain distance, and left him in uncertainty as to what line
exactly he should take. The same had been the case whenever they had
been together out on the island, and had in fact been the principal
cause of his becoming more deeply in love with her every day. He had
once out there encountered a look in her steel-grey eyes which had given
him the impression that the opinion she entertained of him could in a
moment be reversed, and that least of all dare he allow her to feel that
he was appearing in the character of a lover; and it was for this reason
he had scarcely ever talked with her grandfather, and only casually with
herself. The fact was, old Jacob had very well understood that the smart
young navy-lieutenant did not come out there for his sake; and as he
could not very well shut the door in his face, he had very sensibly
warned his granddaughter against him. He explained to her that people of
his class were not in the habit of marrying a common man's child,
a