They used to know each other, and
their acquaintance is about the bitterest thing Joe Ellison has to
remember."
Of course he'd never mention Old Jimmie Carlisle, Larry said to
himself as he destroyed the note--never guessing, in making this
natural response to what seemed a most natural request, that he had
become an unconscious partner in the plan of the warm-hearted,
scheming Duchess.
There was one detail of Joe Ellison's behavior which aroused Larry's
mild curiosity. Directly beneath one of Joe's gardens, hardly a
hundred yards away, was a bit of beach and a pavilion which were used
in common by the families from the surrounding estates. The girls and
younger women were just home from schools and colleges, and at high
tide were always on the beach. At this period, whenever he was at
Cedar Crest, Larry saw Joe, his work apparently forgotten, gazing
fixedly down upon the young figures splashing about the water in their
bright bathing-suits or lounging about the pavilion in their smart
summer frocks.
This interest made Larry wonder, though to be sure not very seriously.
For he had never a guess of how deep Joe's interest was. He did not
know, could not know, that that tall, fixed figure, with its one
absorbing idea, was thinking of his daughter.
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