Vane knit his brows, though he fancied that she was right.

"Well," he replied, "I don't want to be officious--but how can I help?"

"You can't help at all."

Vane saw that she meant it, and he broke out with quick impatience:

"I've spent nine years in this country, in the hardest kind of work; but
all the while I fancied that money meant power, that if I ever got
enough of it I could do what I liked! Now I find that I can't do the
first simple thing that would please me! What a cramped, hide-bound
world it is!"

Kitty smiled in a curious manner.

"Yes; it's a very cramped world to some of us; but complaining won't do
any good," She paused with a faint sigh. "Don't spoil this evening. You
and Mr. Carroll have been very kind. It's so quiet and calm
here--though it was pleasant on board the yacht--and soon we'll have to
go to work again."

Vane once more was stirred by a sense of pity which almost drove him to
rash and impulsive speech; but her manner restrained him.

"Then you must be fond of the sea," he suggested.

"I love it! I was born beside it--where the big, green hills drop to the
head of the water and you can hear the Atlantic rumble on the rocks all
night long."