She had even felt a touch of mingled admiration and gratitude when
she found what a faithful squire he was--capable of an absolute
obstinacy indeed, where she was concerned. For her own sake as well
as his she was glad that he had got off so well, for otherwise she
would have felt bound to tell her father the whole story, and she
was not at all so sure as Malcolm that he would have been satisfied
with his reasons, and would not have been indignant with the fellow
for presuming even to be silent concerning his daughter. Indeed
Lady Florimel herself felt somewhat irritated with him, as having
brought her into the awkward situation of sharing a secret with a
youth of his position.
CHAPTER XVIII: THE QUARREL
For a few days the weather was dull and unsettled, with cold flaws,
and an occasional sprinkle of rain. But after came a still gray
morning, warm and hopeful, and ere noon the sun broke out, the
mists vanished, and the day was glorious in blue and gold. Malcolm
had been to Scaurnose, to see his friend Joseph Mair, and was
descending the steep path down the side of the promontory, on his
way home, when his keen eye caught sight of a form on the slope of
the dune which could hardly be other than that of Lady Florimel.
She did not lift her eyes until he came quite near, and then only
to drop them again with no more recognition than if he had been
any other of the fishermen. Already more than half inclined to pick
a quarrel with him, she fancied that, presuming upon their very
commonplace adventure and its resulting secret, he approached her
with an assurance he had never manifested before, and her head was
bent motionless over her book when he stood and addressed her.
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