His tone was kind; his manner was gentle; his tender interest in
her seemed to have revived. Her long absence had alarmed him; he
feared she might be ill. "I was only thinking," she said. He
smiled, and sat down by her, and asked if she had been thinking
of the place that they should go to when they left London.



Chapter XXXIII.


Mrs. Romsey.


The one hotel in Sandyseal was full, from the topmost story to
the ground floor; and by far the larger half of the landlord's
guests were invalids sent to him by the doctors.

To persons of excitable temperament, in search of amusement, the
place offered no attractions. Situated at the innermost end of a
dull little bay, Sandyseal--so far as any view of the shipping in
the Channel was concerned--might have been built on a remote
island in the Pacific Ocean. Vessels of any importance kept well
out of the way of treacherous shoals and currents lurking at the
entrance of the bay. The anchorage ground was good; but the depth
of water was suited to small vessels only--to shabby old
fishing-smacks which seldom paid their expenses, and to dirty
little coasters carrying coals and potatoes. At the back of the
hotel, two slovenly rows of cottages took their crooked course