I have never been in
England before."
"There are not many places like this," he answered, "not many as old and
fine, and not many as nearly gone to ruin. Even Stornham is not quite as
far gone."
"It is far gone," said Miss Vanderpoel. "I am staying there--with my
sister, Lady Anstruthers."
"Beg pardon--miss," he said. This time he touched his cap in apology.
Enormous as the gulf between their positions was, he knew that he had
offered to take her over the place because he was in a sense glad to
see her again. Why he was glad he did not profess to know or even to
ask himself. Coarsely speaking, it might be because she was one of the
handsomest young women he had ever chanced to meet with, and while her
youth was apparent in the rich red of her mouth, the mass of her thick,
soft hair and the splendid blue of her eyes, there spoke in every line
of face and pose something intensely more interesting and compelling
than girlhood. Also, since the night they had come together on the
ship's deck for an appalling moment, he had liked her better and
rebelled less against the unnatural wealth she represented. He led her
first to the wood from which she had seen him emerge.
"I will show you this first," he explained.
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