It
seemed so entirely incompatible with the easy attitude of friendliness
which he had adopted towards her ever since. She would have liked to
interpret this as signifying that he had accepted her refusal as final, but
some inward prompting warned her that Brett was not the man to be so easily
turned aside from his purpose. Meanwhile, however, it was a relief to be
free from the subtle sense of importunity, of imperious demand, of which,
when he chose, he could make her so acutely conscious.
Thinking over all that had passed between them on the yacht, she wondered
curiously why he had so persistently referred to Tony. It seemed almost as
though he were jealous of the boy--regarded him as some one who might prove
an obstacle to the accomplishment of his own desires. Yet she could not
recall anything which might have given him that impression. There had been
nothing in the least loverlike in Tony's attitude towards her during his
visit to the Cottage.
On the contrary, she had been inwardly congratulating herself upon the fact
that he had evidently determined to abide by the answer she had given him
that night in Switzerland, as they came down from the Roche d'Or--although
she would not have been the true woman she was if she had not secretly
wondered a little at the apparent ease with which he had adapted himself
to the altered relations between them! Pride had counted for a good deal.
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