ter, with the romantic
fantastic Borromean Islands set as great jewels in a crystal globe. We
disembarked at the steps by the garden-foot of the hotel, and somehow
it seemed a perfectly natural part of the lovely situation that I should
immediately become conscious of Mrs. Pallant and her daughter seated on
the terrace and quietly watching us. They had the air of expectation,
which I think we had counted on. I hadn't even asked Archie if he had
answered Linda's note; this was between themselves and in the way of
supervision I had done enough in coming with him.

There is no doubt our present address, all round, lacked a little the
easiest grace--or at least Louisa's and mine did. I felt too much the
appeal of her exhibition to notice closely the style of encounter of the
young people. I couldn't get it out of my head, as I have sufficiently
indicated, that Mrs. Pallant was playing a game, and I'm afraid she saw
in my face that this suspicion had been the motive of my journey. I had
come there to find her out. The knowledge of my purpose couldn't help
her to make me very welcome, and that's why I speak of our meeting
constrainedly. We observed none the less all the forms, and the
admirable scene left us plenty to talk about. I made no reference before
Linda to the retreat from Homburg. This young woman looked even prettier
than she had done on the eve of that manoeuvre and gave no sign of an
awkward consciousness. She again so struck me as a charming clever girl
that I was freshly puzzled to know why we should get--or should have
got--into a tangle about her. People had to want to complicate a
situation to do it on so simple a pretext as that Linda was in every way
beautiful. This was the clear fact: so why shouldn't the presumptions
be in favour of every result of it? One of the effects of that cause,
on the spot, was that at the end of a very short time Archie proposed to
her to take a turn with him in his boat, which awaited us at the foot of
the steps. She looked at her mother with a smiling "May I, mamma?" and
Mrs. Pallant answered "Certainly, darling, if you're not afraid." At
this--I scarcely knew why--I sought the relief of laughter: it must have
affected me as comic that the girl's general competence should suffer
the imputation of that particular flaw. She gave me a quick slightly
sharp look as she turned away with my nephew; it appeared to challenge
me a little--"Pray what's the matter with YOU?" It was the fir