It was a sin--well, let it be a sin; what did she care
if she sinned for Geoffrey? He would not think the worse of her for it.
And she had hope, yes, Geoffrey had taught her to hope. If there was a
Hell, why it was here. And yet not all a Hell, for in it she had found
her love!
It grew dark; she could hear the whisper of the waves upon Bryngelly
beach. It grew dark; the night was closing round. She paddled to within
a few fathoms of the shore, and called in her clear voice.
"Ay, ay, miss," answered old Edward from the beach. "Come in on the next
wave."
She came in accordingly and her canoe was caught and dragged high and
dry.
"What, Miss Beatrice," said the old man shaking his head and grumbling,
"at it again! Out all alone in that thing," and he gave the canoe a
contemptuous kick, "and in the dark, too. You want a husband to look
after you, you do. You'll never rest till you're drowned."
"No, Edward," she answered with a little laugh. "I don't suppose that I
shall. There is no peace for the wicked above seas, you know. Now do not
scold. The canoe is as safe as church in this weather and in the bay.
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