r some reason that broke
the stillness like some unprovoked harsh note. It seemed to him again,
within the limit, that he had but one thing to do--to settle their
common question by some sign of surprise and joy. He hereupon gave
large play to these things, agitating his hat and his stick and loudly
calling out--a demonstration that brought him relief as soon as he had
seen it answered. The boat, in mid-stream, still went a little
wild--which seemed natural, however, while Chad turned round, half
springing up; and his good friend, after blankness and wonder, began
gaily to wave her parasol. Chad dropped afresh to his paddles and the
boat headed round, amazement and pleasantry filling the air meanwhile,
and relief, as Strether continued to fancy, superseding mere violence.
Our friend went down to the water under this odd impression as of
violence averted--the violence of their having "cut" him, out there in
the eye of nature, on the assumption that he wouldn't know it. He
awaited them with a face from which he was conscious of not being able
quite to banish this idea that they would have gone on, not seeing and
not knowing, missing their dinner and disappointing their hostess, had
he himself taken a line to match. That at least was what darkened his
vision for the moment. Afterwards, after they had bumped at the
landing-place and he had assisted their getting ashore, everything
found itself sponged over by the mere miracle of the encounter.

They could so much better at last, on either side, treat it as a wild
extravagance of hazard, that the situation was made elastic by the
amount of explanation called into play. Why indeed--apart from
oddity--the situation should have been really stiff was a question
naturally not practical at the moment, and in fact, so far as we are
concerned, a question tackled, later on and in private, only by
Strether himself. He was to reflect later on and in private that it
was mainly HE who had explained--as he had had moreover comparatively
little difficulty in doing. He was to have at all events meanwhile the
worrying thought of their perhaps secretly suspecting him of having
plotted this coincidence, taking such pains as might be to give it the
semblance of an accident. That possibility--as their
imputation--didn't of course bear looking into for an instant; yet the
whole incident was so manifestly, arrange it as they would, an awkward
one, that he could scarce keep disclaimers in