Carew then moved , in the same direction , from which she at once perceived that he meant to leave her there alone in undisturbed enjoyment .sx How she knew this so certainly , when the movement on the face of it was not only an advance towards the stairs , but also an undeniable approach towards herself , Sophy could not have told ; but so she did know , and without the least trace of apprehension ( such as would have sent her scuttling like a rabbit from either Mr. Seligman or Mr. Bates ) stood her ground in modest acquiescence .sx But Mr. Carew drew nearer :sx he had on a long dark cloak , a garment not only highly becoming to him , but which had also the curious effect of awaking in Sophy's breast a sudden perception of her own selfishness .sx For she was depriving him ( she now reflected ) of one of the purest enjoyments of the human mind the contemplation of inanimate nature .sx Not all gentlemen , of course , cared for it :sx gamblers and Frenchmen ( Sophy believed ) scarcely looked at a landskip from one year's end to the other ; but on such as did look even the flattest meadow had a refining influence .sx Sophy glanced quickly up , and saw the sails twice as beautiful as before .sx Mr. Carew ( so fast had .sx run her thoughts ) was still beside her .sx He too cast a look upwards , a look of genuine feeling ; and with an exquisite sense of emancipation for was she not , thanks to Mr. James , practically a married woman already ?sx Sophy drew a deep quivering breath and hesitated no more .sx " Do not go for me , " said Sophy Cassmajor .sx Mr. Carew bowed , his cloak swinging forward in a great sombre fold .sx Sophy thought it the most singularly graceful bow she had ever seen .sx Then without any further speech , but as though gently drawn by a common impulse , they moved back to the rail ; and so for an immensurable space of time stood side by side in the bright moonlight :sx watching the sea , the sky , the whiteness of the sails ; moving little , speaking not at all ; and with for all visible sign of their disorder the brushing , perhaps twice or thrice , of a fold of silk against a fold of cloth .sx IN THE STEADILY increasing heat few of the passengers ate very much less .sx Dinner at two still found them ready :sx they returned to the awning sluggish but undefeated .sx But picquet and conversation even the monosyllabic exchange , chiefly about sharks , between Mr. Bates .sx and Mr. Seligman were quite at an end , for the interminable business of digestion absorbed all other energies .sx It was a state of affairs unpleasing perhaps to the moralist , but exceedingly propitious for Sophy and her lover .sx For lovers they were , deeply and sweetly plighted .sx That single moonlit hour , without a word spoken , without a hand seeking hand , had united them ( they felt ) for ever .sx When they met again in the morning it was with clear untroubled looks .sx They went to each other at once , not brazenly , but in gentle confidence .sx Nor did any somnolent elder demur .sx Mr. Davis looked heavily up , observed Sophy's placid countenance , and saw no need to exert himself .sx Madame slept .sx The Colonel , though less openly ( his head under a bandana ) slept also .sx So , day by day , their group composed itself ; and day by day , in the quarter- gallery , Sophy conversed with Mr. Carew .sx He told her of the Arabian jessamine , that miraculous plant of which a branch broken off and carried aboard ship will , without soil or water , flower and flourish from Jamaica home .sx They compared it to their love .sx He told her of the Portuguese men-o'-war , whose transparent keels , three inches long , furrow the waters of the equator .sx They compared these to their love also ; for the making of such comparisons formed a large part of their conversation .sx Thus the ship was an enchanted island , and they Ferdinand and Miranda ; or Sophy was Juliet , and Carew a happier Romeo .sx At the great wantons and thieves of love Cleopatra and Helen , Antony and Paris their imaginations stopped short :sx all was sweet , gentle , English and unalarming .sx They were not in the least afraid .sx If they kept their troth secret , that was only because a secret is so sweet .sx If they seldom talked of the future , that was simply because it was so certain .sx Once or twice , indeed , they dallied with thoughts of a shipwreck unalarming as the rest in which both should perish on the same spar ; but their final plans grew increasingly practical .sx As soon as the ship reached Madras , Carew was to take Mr. Davis aside , and explain , with every show of deference , that Sophy could no longer fulfil her engagement with Mr. James .sx He would also add if possible in the same breath that on her approaching union with himself she was perfectly prepared to forgo the two thousand pounds of her legitimate fortune .sx It was a stroke on which both Carew , who had thought of it , and Sophy , who had joyfully agreed , .sx plumed themselves exceedingly ; for while no sacrifice to them Carew had a hundred a year of his own , and would in any case soon make his fortune they had little doubt of its appearing so to the shorter sight of age .sx Poor foolish Mr. Davis !sx " How surprised he will be , " said Sophy , " and how pleased to get the money !sx " .sx AND NOW , FOR a week of light baffling airs , their ship hung becalmed on the verge of the northern hemisphere .sx A quiet continual swell moved the body of the waters , but so broadly , so profoundly , that in the stifling cuddy neither the Captain's hanging punchbowl , nor the mynah's cage , swung more than half a degree to this side or that .sx All was still , hot , and perpendicular .sx Metal blistered the hand , wood grew slippery as brass ; above decks oozy with tar the sails stirred and fell .sx Of all the company only Sophy and her lover were fully alive ; but in them in Carew at leastit seemed as though life ran stronger than ever before .sx His rare caresses grew at once briefer and more ardent ; he spoke less , and sat longer .sx gazing .sx Sophy was puzzled .sx As her hand lay in his he would sometimes let it fall almost shaking it off , as though its touch , which he had been used to liken to snow , now burned or hurt him .sx Once , as she came running to display herself in a new low-cut gown , he positively looked away though it was the prettiest gown in her trousseau , of thin embroidered muslin with cornflower ribbons at her white breast .sx " You don't like it ?sx " asked Sophy wistfully .sx " It is charming , " said Carew , " but you will need a shawl .sx .. " .sx So there arose between them a shadowy constraint , like the fine haze or film that on a too-brilliant day will creep , about noon , over the face of the sun .sx The sun is still there , one can still feel its heat ; but it is a little changed .sx So it was with their love ; and the change was reflected , curiously enough , not only in the eyes of Sophy and Carew , but also , had they but seen it , in the eyes of Arline .sx They were become more than ever , and especially when directed upon Carew , the eyes of one capable and desirous of taking a bribe .sx They were also impatient , for haymaking in sunshine was all Arline's philosophy ; but they were not wholly mercenary , for side by side with .sx the more rational desire for cash , there flourished in Arline's bosom a pure and disinterested gust for helping the young to bed .sx To such a temperament as this , therefore , the plight of Sophy and her love seemed profitless to a degree , and few nights passed without Arline's putting out her head , between three and four in the morning , to see if Carew were about and in need of assistance .sx But he never appeared , and once , struck by a sudden thought , she had laid an ear to the partition and listened ten minutes .sx Not a mouse stirred , it was quite preposterous .sx .. A day or two later , however , her hopes revived , for Carew , on the plea of heat , got the Captain's leave to swing a hammock in the cuddy .sx He told Sophy of it first , speaking not without a shade of consciousness ; but when she showed no answering constraint , only a candid pleasure in his increasing comfort , he spoke more freely , telling her how that like an eastern slave he would sleep across her door , and how he would lie awake all night for the joy of being near her .sx Sophy listened a trifle absently , having just recollected the faint but unmistakable aroma to which , indeed , they owed their first moonlit meeting ; but Carew , when this was mentioned , seemed to think nothing of it ; and from .sx that time forward , at about half past nine each night , a sailor came with a hammock and slung it in the cuddy .sx Another hour for lights were out by ten saw the last of the 'tween-deck traffic , and Carew , emerging from his old quarters , could enter on undisturbed possession until six the next morning .sx There Arline found him , the night before they crossed the line ; and on an impulse of pure good-nature whispered that Mademoiselle was awake , and frightened , and asking for Monsieur .sx Carew looked at her stupidly , his eyes feverish with the heat ; she picked up his thin bed-robe and held it out to him .sx " Allez , Monsieur , allez !sx Elle vous attend , " .sx said Arline impatiently .sx But for a long instant more tall , slender , gowned like Othello in his white robe Carew hung back from the doorway ; until Sophy , waking indeed , uttered a little troubled cry that might have been his name .sx Then he took one step forward , like a man in a dream , or like a man on the edge of a hidden precipice ; and to Arline , closing the door on them , all else was lost and mingled in the sounds of a ship at night .sx AT NOON THE next day , for the first time , their shadows fell to the south .sx IT NOW GREW very hot , but Sophy did not care .sx She dozed all day like a small sleek cat , eating little , scarcely stirring from her chair , and only towards nightfall opening wide expectant eyes .sx No one neither Mr. Davis with his sea-sickness , nor Madame with her digestion , nor the people of the ship with their innumerable businesses paid any attention to her :sx they merely noticed that she was there .sx Only Arline's black eye held a glitter of secret meaning ; and Sophy , as the woman passed , would look up and smile with parted lips .sx She knew Carew to be near ; and she was perfectly happy .sx The topics of their conversation , in these long and halcyon days , were greatly changed .sx The Arabian jessamine , the Shakespearean lovers , gave place to a hundred minute details of their own lives .sx Thus , Carew spent two and a half hours describing the arrangement of his mother's garden , to which Sophy replied with a history of Aunt Davis' maids how Jemima , when Sophy was nine , had upset a tub of clean washing , and how Patty , the year after , had conspired with a gipsy to steal .sx a silver spoon .sx Then Carew told about his first pony , and of the race against his brother , when , neither willing to give in , they had galloped neck-and-neck to a standstill .sx Sophy had never ridden at all , being considered over-timid , but as soon as they reached dry land Carew was determined to teach her .sx She would not be timid with him , he said arrogantly ; and Sophy agreed .sx Her only objection was on the score of expense , for though perfectly confident of her lover's abilities , she was also perfectly prepared to endure ( while those abilities were in process of being recognized ) a considerable period of starvation .sx If anything , she rather looked forward to it .sx But Carew's ideas were different :sx not a nabob living ( he said ) but had started on borrowed capital ; while as for borrowing a horse , there was nothing in the world easier .sx " They must be a very friendly sort of people , " said Sophy .sx " They are indeed , " said Carew .sx Towards this Eden of disinterestedness they were now making good speed , having in the early part of May , being still amply provisioned , passed the Cape of Good Hope without putting in .sx