t--it makes me want
to do that--" He clenched his fist and shook it so near her that she
started back, "because now you look as if you'd blow my brains out.
There are moments," he continued, "when, if we stood on a rock together,
you'd throw me into the sea."

Hypnotised by the force of his eyes in hers, she repeated, "If we stood
on a rock together--"

To be flung into the sea, to be washed hither and thither, and driven
about the roots of the world--the idea was incoherently delightful. She
sprang up, and began moving about the room, bending and thrusting aside
the chairs and tables as if she were indeed striking through the waters.
He watched her with pleasure; she seemed to be cleaving a passage for
herself, and dealing triumphantly with the obstacles which would hinder
their passage through life.

"It does seem possible!" he exclaimed, "though I've always thought it
the most unlikely thing in the world--I shall be in love with you all my
life, and our marriage will be the most exciting thing that's ever been
done! We'll never have a moment's peace--" He caught her in his arms as
she passed him, and they fought for mastery, imagining a rock, and the
sea heaving beneath them. At last she was thrown to the floor, where she
lay gasping, and crying for mercy.

"I'm a mermaid! I can swim," she cried, "so the game's up." Her dress
was torn across, and peace being established, she fetched a needle and
thread and began to mend the tear.

"And now," she said, "be quiet and tell me about the world; tell me
about everything that's ever happened, and I'll tell you--let me see,
what can I tell you?--I'll tell you about Miss Montgomerie and the river
party. She was left, you see, with one foot in the boat, and the other
on shore."

They had spent much time already in thus filling out for the other the
course of their past lives, and the characters of their friends and
relations, so that very soon Terence knew not only what Rachel's
aunts might be expected to say upon every occasion, but also how their
bedrooms were furnished, and what kind of bonnets they wore. He could
sustain a conversation between Mrs. Hunt and Rachel, and carry on a
tea-party including the Rev. William Johnson and Miss Macquoid, the
Christian Scientists, with remarkable likeness to the truth. But he had
known many more people, and was far more highly skilled in the art of
narrative than Rachel was, whose experiences were, for the most part,
of a curio