She was young, but then many girls marry young. It was not really
her youth that mattered; neither, when he came to sift the matter, was it
the fact that she had had so little opportunity of seeing the world. But
it was something in Toby's eyes, something in Sheila's manner, that gave
him pause. He asked himself, scarcely knowing why, if it would not be
fairer after all to wait.
He wished that he could have consulted Jake, but yet it would have been
difficult to put his misgivings into definite words. Jake was a brick and
understood most things, but he was away for another week at least.
The thought of the girl's father crossed his mind, only to be instantly
dismissed. Even if he had been within reach, Captain Larpent's sternly
unapproachable exterior would have held him back. He was inclined to like
the man, but he could not feel that Toby's welfare was, or ever had been,
of paramount importance to him. He had thoughts only for his yacht.
Bunny began to reflect moodily that life was a more complicated affair
than he had ever before imagined, and, reaching this point, he also
reached the gate by the copse and became aware of cigar-smoke dominating
the atmosphere above the scent of his own now burnt-out pipe.
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