Yet she could not find it in her heart to regret her decision. She felt deeply thankful that the mothering, protective impulse which had almost led her into promising to marry Tony had been stayed by Lady Susan's wise words. This hot-headed, undisciplined boy, despite his lovableness and charm, was not the type of man who would make a woman of Ann's fine fibre happy as his wife. Perhaps, unconsciously to herself, she was mentally contrasting him with some one else--with a man who, stern, and embittered though he might be, yet gave her a curious feeling of reliance, a sense of secret reserves of strength that would never fail whatever demand life might make upon them. It seemed to her as if she and Eliot had drawn nearer to each other during their talk together on the deserted railway platform--as though some intangible barrier between them had been broken down. She could not put into actual words the thought which flitted fugitively through her mind--it was too vague and indeterminate. Only she was subconsciously aware that some change had taken place--that their relation to each other was curiously altered. As she lay in bed that night, her mind a confused jumble of the day's happenings, one thought rose clear above the medley--the memory of his last words to her: "You need never imagine you're not wanted at the Cottage. I like to think of you there." CHAPTER XIV THE ETERNAL TRIANGLE Under Brett Forrester's tutelage, Ann's progress in the art of swimming proceeded apace. Since his arrival at White Windows, the weather had been perfect--still, dewy mornings, veiled in mist, melting by midday into a blaze of deep blue skies and brilliant sunshine--and every day Ann and Mrs. Hilyard, accompanied by Forrester and very often by Robin in addition, might have been seen descending to Berrier Cove, the favourite bathing beach of the neighbourhood. Quite frequently, too, Lady Susan would join them in the water--she was an excellent straight-forward swimmer, though "without any monkey tricks," as she regretfully acknowledged. On these occasions the Tribes of Israel would sit in a mournful row along the shore, watching the proceedings with concerned brown eyes. They themselves, individually and collectively, exhibited an unfeigned distaste for every form of aquatic sport which, Brett wickedly suggested, might be due to some subconscious atavistic emotion relative to the Red Sea episode. When they had suffered their adored mistress's temerity in silence for as long as canine toleration could be expected to endure, one or other of them would lift up his voice in a long-drawn wail of protest, the others would immediately join in, and the chorus of howls continued to make day hideous until Lady Susan issued from the water and hurried into her tent to dress.