a muffled
figure at its helm; and the _Minerva_ rocked gently almost until the
sound of the motor boat's tuff-tuff had been lost in the general noise
of London. Nearer at hand, above them, Jenny could hear the clanging of
tram-gongs and the clatter and slow boom of motor omnibuses; but these
sounds were mellowed by the evening, and although they were near enough
to be comforting they were too far away to interrupt this pleasant
solitude with Keith. The two of them sat in the shadow, and Jenny craned
to hear the chuckle of the water against the yacht's sides. It was a
beautiful moment in her life.... She gave a little moan, and swayed
against Keith, her delight succeeded by deadly languor.

iv

So for a moment they sat, Keith's arm around her shoulders; and then
Jenny moved so as to free herself. She was restless and unhappy again,
her nerves on edge. The moon and the water, which had soothed her, were
now an irritation. Keith heard her breath come and go, quickly, heavily.

"Sorry, Jenny," he said, in a tone of puzzled apology. She caught his
fallen hand, pressing it eagerly.

"It's nothing. Only that minute. Like somebody walking on my grave."

"You're cold. We'll go down to the cabin again." He was again cool and
unembarrassed. Together they stood upon the deck in the moonlight, while
the water flowed rapidly beneath them and the night's mystery emphasised
their remoteness from the rest of the world. They had no part, at this
moment, in the general life; but were solitary, living only to
themselves....

Keith's arm was about her as they descended; but he let it drop as they
stood once more in the golden-brown cabin. "Sit here!" He plumped a
cushion for her, and Jenny sank into an enveloping softness that rose
about her as water might have done, so that she might have been alarmed
if Keith had not been there looking down with such an expression of
concern.

"I'm really all right," she told him, reassuringly. "Miserable for a
tick--that's all!"

"Sure?" He seemed genuinely alarmed, scanning her face. She had again
turned sick and faint, so that her knees were without strength. Was he
sincere? If only she could have been sure of him. It meant everything in
the world to her. If only Keith would say he loved her: if only he would
kiss her! He had never done that. The few short days of their earlier
comradeship had been full of delight; he had taken her arm, he had even
had her in his arms during a wild bluster