nd joined them directly after;
and Mab began to shiver and went indoors.

The two men sat together for some time, talking little. Seton seemed
preoccupied and Merefleet became sleepy. It was he who at length proposed
a move.

Seton rose instantly. "Mr. Merefleet," he said rather awkwardly, "I want
to say a word to you."

Merefleet waited in silence.

"Concerning my cousin," Seton proceeded. "You will probably misread my
motive for saying this. But nevertheless it must be said. It is not
advisable that you should become very intimate with her."

He brought out the words with a jerk. It had been a difficult thing to
say, but he was not a man to shrink from difficulties. Having said it, he
waited quietly for the result.

Merefleet paused a moment before he spoke. Seton had surprised him, but
he did not show it.

"I shall not misread your motive," he said, "as I seldom speculate on
matters that do not concern me. But allow me to say that I consider your
warning wholly uncalled for."

"Exactly," said Seton, "I expected you to say that. Well, I am sorry. It
is quite impossible for me to explain myself. I hope for your sake you
will never be placed in the position in which I am now. I assure you it
is anything but an enviable one."

His manner, blunt and direct, appealed very strongly to Merefleet. He
said nothing, however, and they went in together in unbroken silence.
Mab did not reappear that night.

CHAPTER VIII

A fortnight passed away and Merefleet was still at the hotel at Old
Silverstrand. Mab was there also, the idol of the fisher-folk, and an
unfailing source of interest and admiration to casual visitors at the
hotel.

Merefleet, though he had become a privileged acquaintance, was still
wholly unenlightened with regard to the circumstances which had brought
her to the place under Seton's escort.

As time went on, it struck Merefleet that these two were a somewhat
incongruous couple. They dined together and they usually boated together
in the afternoon--this last item on account of Mab's passion for the sea;
but beyond this they lived considerably apart. Neither seemed to seek the
other's society, and if they met at lunch, it was never by preconceived
arrangement.

Merefleet saw more of Mab when she was ashore than Seton did. They would
meet on the quay, in old Quiller's cottage, or in the hotel-garden,
several times a day. Occasionally he would accompany them on the water,
but not often. H