she said; ``but I certainly expect you to do more than that.Ihave met many remarkable men in all parts of the world, and Iknow what a strong man is, and you have one of the strongest personalities I have known.But you can't mean that you are content to stop with this.You should be something bigger and more wide-reaching and more lasting.Indeed, it hurts me to see you wasting your time here over my father's interests.You should exert that same energy on a broader map.You could make yourself anything you chose.At home you would be your party's leader in politics, or you could be a great general, or a great financier.I say this because I know there are better things in you, and because I want you to make the most of your talents.I am anxious to see you put your powers to something worth while.''
Miss Langham's voice carried with it such a tone of sincerity that she almost succeeded in deceiving herself.And yet she would have hardly cared to explain just why she had reproached the man before her after this fashion.For she knew that when she spoke as she had done, she was beating about to find some reason that would justify her in not caring for him, as she knew she could care--as she would not allow herself to care.The man at her side had won her interest from the first, and later had occupied her thoughts so entirely, that it troubled her peace of mind.Yet she would not let her feeling for him wax and grow stronger, but kept it down.And she was trying now to persuade herself that she did this because there was something lacking in him and not in her.
She was almost angry with him for being so much to her and for not being more acceptable in little things, like the other men she knew.So she found this fault with him in order that she might justify her own lack of feeling.
But Clay, who only heard the words and could not go back of them to find the motive, could not know this.He sat perfectly still when she had finished and looked steadily out across the harbor.His eyes fell on the ugly ore-pier, and he winced and uttered a short grim laugh.