She
had to do most of the talking--and you may be sure that she
directed her conversation to conveying under an appearance of
lightness many valuable lessons in the true wisdom of life as it
is revealed only to the fashionable idle. She was careful not to
overdo, not to provoke, above all not to put him at his ease.
Her fiction of ill health, of threatened nervous prostration, also
served to free her from an overdose of his society during the long
and difficult days in that eventless solitude. He was all for
arduous tramps through the woods, for excursions in canoe under
the fierce sun. She insisted on his enjoying himself--"but I don't
feel equal to any such exertion. I simply must rest and take care
of myself." She was somewhat surprised at his simplicity in
believing her health was anything but robust, when her appearance
gave the lie direct to her hints and regrets. While he was off
with one of the guides she stayed at camp, reading, working at
herself with the aid of Selina, revolving and maturing her plans.
When she saw him she saw him at his best. He showed up especially
well at swimming. She was a notable figure herself in bathing
suit, and could swim in a nice, ladylike way; but he was a water
creature--indeed, seemed more at home in the water than on land.
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