Instinctively he seemed to understand her character--her romantic, ideal way of looking at everything.

He talked to her of the deep seas and their many wonders; of the ocean said to be fathomless; of the coral islands and of waters in whose depths the oyster containing the pale, gleaming pearl is found; of the quiet nights spent at sea, where the stars shine as they never seem to shine on land; of the strange hush that falls upon the heaving waters before a storm.

He told of long days when they were becalmed upon the green deep, when the vessel seemed "A painted ship upon a painted ocean." With her marvelous fancy and quick imagination she followed him to the wondrous depth of silent waters where strange shapes, never seen by human eye, abound.

She hung upon his words; he saw it, and rejoiced in his success.

He did not startle her by any further compliment, but when their walk was ended he told her that morning would live in his memory as the happiest time of his life.
After a few days it seemed to become a settled thing that Beatrice should meet Hugh Fernely.