"I'd much sooner think of you with him," said my mother. "I know nothing of
Monsieur Torode, but nobody seems to like him."

George Hamon said much the same thing, and spoke highly of John Ozanne as a
cautious seaman, which I well knew him to be.

Jeanne Falla laughed heartily when I told her of my visit to Brecqhou,
which I did very fully.

"Mon Gyu, Phil, mon gars, but you're getting on! And you told her to her
face before them all that you wanted to marry her? It's as odd a style of
wooing as ever I heard."

"Well, you see, I wanted there to be no mistake about it, Aunt Jeanne. If
I don't see Carette again before I leave, she will know how the land lies
at all events. If she takes to young Torode while I'm away it's because she
likes him best."

"And she,--Carette,--what did she say to it?"

"She didn't say anything."

"Tuts! How did she look, boy? A girl tells more with her face and her eyes
than with her tongue, even when they say opposite things."

"I'm not sure how she took it, Aunt Jeanne. How would you have taken it,
now?"

"Ma fé! It would depend," she laughed, her old face creasing up with
merriment. "If it was Monsieur Right I wouldn't have minded maybe, though I