“Oh，itisn’texactlythat，“shesaidquietly。“Iamquitewillingtoadmitwhatallthetouristsandchancevisitorscallthefascinationoftheseplaces。Ihappentodislikethem，thatisall。
PerhapsitisbecauseIlivehere，becauseIseethemdaybyday；
perhapsbecausethesightofthemandthethoughtofthemhavebecomewovenintomylife。“
Shewastalkinghalftoherself。Foramoment，eventheknowledgeofhispresencehadescapedher。Hamel，however，didnotrealisethatfact。Hewelcomedherconfidenceasasignofrelaxationfromthefrigidityofherearlierdemeanour。
“Thatseemshard，“heobservedsympathetically。“Itseemsoddtohearyoutalklikethat，too。Yourlife，surely，oughttobepleasantenough。“
Shelookedawayfromtheseaintohisface。Althoughthegenuineinterestwhichshesawthereandthekindlyexpressionofhiseyesdisarmedannoyance，shestillstiffenedslightly。
“Whyoughtit？。“
Thequestionwasalittlebewildering。
“Why，becauseyouareyoungandagirl，“hereplied。“It’snaturaltobecheerful，isn’tit？“
“Isit？“sheansweredlistlessly。“Icannottell。Ihavenothadmuchexperience。“
“Howoldareyou？“heaskedbluntly。
Thistimeitcertainlyseemedasthoughherreplywouldcontainsomerebukeforhiscuriosity。Sheglancedoncemoreintohisface，however，andtheinstinctivedesiretoadministerthatwell-deservedsnubpassedaway。Hewassoobviouslyinterested，hisquestionwasaskedsonaturally，thatitsspiceofimpertinencewasasthoughithadnotexisted。
“Iamtwenty-one，“shetoldhim。
“Andhowlonghaveyoulivedhere？
“SinceIleftboarding-school，fouryearsago。“
“AnywherenearwhereIamgoingtoburymyselfforatime，Iwonder？“
hewenton。
“Thatdepends，“shereplied。“OuronlyneighboursaretheLorneybrookesofMarketBurnham。Areyougoingthere？“
Heshookhishead。
“I’vegotalittleshantyofmyown，“heexplained，“quiteclosetoSt。David’sStation。I’veneverevenseenityet。“
Shevouchsafedsomeslightshowofcuriosity。
“Whereisthisshanty，asyoucallit？“sheaskedhim。
“Ireallyhaven’tthefaintestidea，“hereplied。“Iamlookingforitnow。AllIcantellyouisthatitstandsjustoutofreachofthefulltides，onapieceofrock，deadonthebeachandaboutamilefromthestation。Itwasbuiltoriginallyforacoastguardstationandmeanttoholdalifeboat，buttheyfoundtheycouldneverlaunchthelifeboatwhentheyhadit，sothemantowhomalltheforeshoreandmostofthelandaroundherebelongs-aMr。
Fentolin，Ibelieve-soldittomyfather。Iexpecttheplacehastumbledtopiecesbythistime，butIthoughtI’dhavealookatit。“
Shewasgazingathimsteadfastlynow，withpartedlips。
“Whatisyourname？“shedemanded。
“RichardHamel。“
“Hamel。“
Sherepeateditlingeringly。Itseemedquiteunfamiliar。
“WasyourfatheragreatfriendofMr。Fentolin’s，then？“sheasked。
“Ibelieveso，inasortofway，“heanswered。“MyfatherwasHameltheartist，youknow。TheymadehimanR。A。sometimebeforehedied。Heusedtocomeouthereandliveinatent。ThenMr。
Fentolinlethimusethisplaceandfinallysoldittohim。Myfatherusedoftentospeaktomeaboutitbeforehedied。“
“Tellme，“sheenquired，“Idonotknowmuchaboutthesematters，buthaveyouanypaperstoprovethatitwassoldtoyourfatherandthatyouhavetherighttooccupyitnowwhenyouchoose？“
Hesmiled。
“OfcourseIhave，“heassuredher。“Asamatteroffact，asnoneofushavebeenhereforsolong，IthoughtI’dbetterbringthetitle-deed，orwhatevertheycallit，alongwithme。It’swiththerestofmytrapsatNorwich。Oh，theplacebelongstome，rightenough！“hewenton，smiling。“Don’ttellmethatanyone’spulleditdown，orthatit’sdisappearedfromthefaceoftheearth？“
“No，“shesaid，“itstillremainsthere。Whenweareroundthenextcurve，IthinkIcanshowittoyou。Buteveryonehasforgotten，Ithink，thatitdoesn’tbelongtoMr。Fentolinstill。Heusesithimselfveryoften。“
“Whatfor？“
Shelookedatherquestionerquitesteadfastly，quitequietly，speechlessly。Acuriousuneasinesscreptintohisthoughts。Thereweremysterioustbingsinherface。Heknewfromthatmomentthatshe，too，directlyorindirectly，wasconcernedwiththosestrangehappeningsatwhichKinsleyhadhinted。Heknewthattherewerethingswhichshewaskeepingfromhimnow。
“Mr。Fentolinusesoneoftheroomsasastudio。Helikestopaintthereandbenearthesea，“sheexplained。“Butfortherest，Idonotknow。Inevergoneartheplace。“
“Iamafraid，“heremarked，afterafewmomentsofsilence，“thatI
shallbealittleunpopularwithMr。Fentolin。PerhapsIoughttohavewrittenfirst，butthen，ofcourse，Ihadnoideathatanyonewasmakinguseoftheplace。“
“Idonotunderstand，“shesaid，“howyoucanpossiblyexpecttocomedownlikethisandlivethere，withoutanypreparation。“
“Whynot？“
“Youhaven’tanyservantsnoranyfurniturenorthingstocookwith。“
Helaughed。
“Oh！Iamanoldcampaigner，“heassuredher。“Imeanttopickupafewoddmentsinthevillage。Idon’tsupposeIshallstayverylong，anyhow，butIthoughtI’dliketohavealookattheplace。
By-the-by，whatsortofamanisMr。Fentolin？“
Againtherewasthatcuriousexpressioninhereyes，anexpressionalmostofsecretterror，thistimenotwhollyconcealed。Hecouldhaveswornthatherhandswerecold。
“Hemetwithanaccidentmanyyearsago，“shesaidslowly。“Bothhislegswereamputated。Hespendshislifeinalittlecarriagewhichhewheelsabouthimself。“
“Poorfellow！“Hamelexclaimed，withastrongman’sreadysympathyforsuffering。“ThatisjustasmuchasIhaveheardabouthim。
Isheadecentsortoffellowinotherways？Isuppose，anyhow，ifhehasreallytakenafancytomylittleshanty，Ishallhavetogiveitup。“
Then，asitseemedtohim，forthefirsttimereallifeleapedintoherface。Sheleanedtowardshim。Hertonewashalfcommanding，halfimploring，hermannerentirelyconfidential。
“Don’t！“shebegged。“Itisyours。Claimit。Liveinit。Doanythingyoulikewithit，buttakeitawayfromMr。Fentolin！“
Hamelwasspeechless。Hesatalittleforward，ahandoneitherknee，hismouthungracefullyopen，anexpressionofblankandutterbewildermentinhisface。Forthefirsttimehebegantohavevaguedoubtsconcerningthisyounglady。Everythingaboutherhadbeensostrange:herquietentranceintothecarriage，herunusualmanneroftalking，andfinallythislastpassionate，inexplicableappeal。
“Iamafraid，“hesaidatlast，“Idon’tquiteunderstand。Yousaythepoorfellowhastakenafancytotheplaceandlikesbeingthere。Well，itisn’tmuchofacatchforme，anyway。I’mratherawanderer，andIdaresayIshan’tbebackinthesepartsagainforyears。Whyshouldn’tIlethimhaveitifhewantsit？It’snolosstome。I’mnotapainter，youknow，likemyfather。“
Sheseemedonthepointofmakingafurtherappeal。Herlips，even，wereparted，herheadalittlethrownback。Andthenshestopped。
Shesaidnothing。Thesilencelastedsolongthathebecamealmostembarrassed。
“YouwillforgivemeifIamalittledense，won’tyou？“hebegged。
“Totellyouthetruth，“hewenton，smiling，“I’vegotasortoffeelingthatI’dliketodoanythingyouaskme。Nowwon’tyoujustexplainalittlemoreclearlywhatyoumean，andI’llblowuptheoldplaceskyhigh，ifit’sanypleasuretoyou。“
Sheseemedsuddenlytohaverevertedtoherformerself-thecoldandcolourlessyoungwomanwhohadfirsttakentheseatoppositetohis。
