hat curious, exciting
impression was gone, like the vanishing glint on a gull's wing as it
dips from sun into shadow. Of course she had not spoken; of course she
had no word to give him. He had seemed to hear her speak, because she
was a very vital sort of creature, no doubt, and therefore physically,
though unconsciously, magnetic.

At their next crossing under the light she did not look at him at all,
and he realized that she was not so extraordinarily beautiful as he had
at first thought. The glory of her was more an effect of colouring than
anything else. The creamy complexion of a very young girl, whipped to
rose and white by the sea wind; brilliant turquoise blue eyes under a
glitter of wavy red hair; these were the only marvels, for the small,
straight nose was exactly like most pretty girls' noses, and the mouth,
though expressive and sweet, with a short upper lip, was not remarkable,
unless for its firmness.

The next time they passed, Stephen granted the girl a certain charm of
expression which heightened the effect of beauty. She looked singularly
innocent and interested in life, which to Stephen's mood seemed
pathetic. He was convinced that he had seen through life, and
consequently ceased forever to be interested in it. But he admired
beauty wherever he saw it, whether in the grace of a breaking wave, or
the sheen on a girl's bright hair, and it amused him faintly to
speculate about the young creature with the brilliant eyes and blowing
red locks. He decided that she was a schoolgirl of sixteen, being taken
over to Paris, probably to finish her education there. Her mother or
guardian was no doubt prostrate with sea-sickness, careless for the
moment whether the child paraded the deck insufficiently clad, or
whether she fell unchaperoned into the sea. Judging by her clothes, her
family was poor, and she was perhaps intended for a governess: that was
why they were sending her to France. She was to be given "every
advantage," in order to command "desirable situations" by and by.
Stephen felt dimly sorry for the little thing, who looked so radiantly
happy now. She was much too pretty to be a governess, or to be obliged
to earn her own living in any way. Women were brutes to each other
sometimes. He had been finding this out lately. Few would care to bring
a flowerlike creature of that type into their houses. The girl had
trouble before her. He was sure she was going to be a governess.

After she had walked fo