"
Louise, in her own mind, immediately constructed another theory about
Lawford Tapp, "the fisherman's son." The sandy point had been sold to
the builder of the very ornate villa now crowning it, and the proceeds
of that sale had paid for the _Merry Andrew_ sloop and the expensive
fishing rod and the clothes of superquality which the young man wore.
She shrank, however, from commenting upon this extravagant and
spendthrift trait in his character, even to Uncle Amazon. Nor would
she have spoken to anybody else upon the subject.
Something had happened to Louise Grayling on this adventurous
afternoon--something of which she scarcely dared think, let alone talk!
The grip of fear at her heart when she thought Lawford was drowning had
startled her as much as the accident itself. She had seen men in peril
before--in deadly peril--without feeling any personal terror for their
fate.
In that moment when Lawford was sinking and she was preparing to leap
to his aid, Louise had realized this fact. And in her inmost soul she
admitted--with a thrill that shook her physically as well as
spiritually--that her interest in this Cape Cod fisherman's son was an
interest rooted in her inmost being.
Pages:
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245