he asked again . `` Where does he belong ? '' `` He is the son of Father 's sister -- his favourite sister , although he has never seen her since she married an American years ago and went to live in the States . She made Frank come down here this summer and hunt us up . He is splendid , I think . He is a New York lawyer and very clever . '' Benjamin made no response . He pulled in his oars and let the dory float amid the ripples . The bottom of white sand , patterned over with coloured pebbles , was clear and distinct through the dark-green water . Mary Stella leaned over to watch the distorted reflection of her face by the dory 's side . `` Have you had pretty good luck this week , Benjamin ? Father could n't go out much -- he has been so busy with his hay , and Leon is such a poor fisherman . '' `` We 've had some of the best hauls of the summer this week . Some of the Rustler boats caught six hundred to a line yesterday . We had four hundred to the line in our boat . '' Mary Stella began absently to dabble her slender brown hand in the water . A silence fell between them , with which Benjamin was well content , since it gave him a chance to feast his eyes on the beautiful face before him . He could not recall the time when he had not loved Mary Stella . It seemed to him that she had always been a part of his inmost life . He loved her with the whole strength and fidelity of a naturally intense nature .
He hoped that she XXXXX him , and he had no rival that he feared .
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